When can image-making intervene in social and political realities in ways that matter, and when can those intentions become diluted by the systems through which art is shown and circulated?

Taking Palestinian art as a point of departure, this workshop looks at what it means to make and exhibit images at a moment when we are surrounded by images of destruction and loss. It introduces the idea of the “Dead Image”: an image that continues to represent a condition, yet becomes severed from the historical and political forces that make that condition urgent. Its subject remains visible, but its capacity to implicate the viewer, to demand a position, a response, or a reckoning, has been diminished.

Through discussions, readings, and screenings, participants will consider how images change as they move between artists, audiences, institutions, funders, and platforms, and ask what might allow them to retain their force beyond visibility alone.

The study group will be in Arabic.
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Muhammad Nour ElKhairy is a Palestinian filmmaker, film programmer, and educator from Jordan, currently based in Montreal, Canada. He completed an MFA in Studio Arts: Film Production at Concordia University and is interested in fostering critical engagement with cinema, highlighting its use as both a tool of colonial power and as a potential site of resistance. His work has screened internationally at MoMA PS1, Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival, Kaunas IFF, Go Short, and Cinémathèque Québécoise.