DIGITAL FORAYS & GLOBAL UPRISING: AESTHETICS OF DIGITAL DISSENT

On October 29, 2020, #NYUKEVO virtually hosted a talk on Aesthetics of Digital Dissent with Amal Khalaf (Cubitt Gallery), An Xiao Mina (Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society), Rebecca Stein (Duke University) and discussant Nicholas Mirzoeff (NYU) to discuss the different ways in which the audio-visual mediation and the aesthetics of protests are in many ways uprisings in themselves. Khalaf began her presentation by making a distinction between the public sphere in which the Gulf states in coordination with PR firms tend to present themselves, and the informal and joyful sphere made by queer Khaleeji & Bahrainis on the apps Tik Tok and Instagram. Specifically, Khalaf noted that these apps represented a unique space of resistance that counteracted state-run repressive tactics against the digital Arab visuality. Following up on Khalaf’s discussion on the relationship between citizen and state, An Xiao Mina used her non-profit, Meedan, a digital platform for global journalism, as an example of the role public space can play as sites for resistance and protest. She did acknowledge, however, the limitations of “liberatory” movements since the state, as an institution of power, “ still has control over our body and legal resistance.” Stein segued the conversation from insurgency to one of counter-insurgency “settler aesthetics” as she discussed the relationship between militarism and culture in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Namely, she argues that the mission of the Zionist conspiratorial blogosphere to advance the notion of “Pallywood,” or the Palestinians’ deliberate media manipulation of Israeli violence, has now been undertaken by the state; the Israeli government is “living under the language of ‘fake news’ in a very Trump-ian way” by attempting to destroy damaging state archives through charges of fraud. Echoing Mina’s earlier sentiments, Stein views this as a sober reminder of state power and the colonial present. In spite of these inherent challenges, all three presenters stressed the inherent power of digital resistance and the need to continue seeing these spaces as sites of disruption and hope. We would like to thank all the presenters for their insight and everyone that joined us, as well as our cosponsors, NYU’s Center for Media, Culture, and History, Global and Joint Program Studies, The Grey Art Gallery, and Duke-UNC’s Consortium for Middle East Studies. Please check our website for future events: bit.ly/NYUKevoFall20.