17/04/2026
Making Waves #20
What if the voice on the other side of the phone was someone reading you a poem?
In a time marked by displacement, violence, and war, how can we speak of lives so often reduced to their suffering? This edition brings together visual artist Hoda Afshar and poet Ghayath Almdahoun, whose practices turn to poetry and beauty as a means of restoring presence, dignity, and complexity to the dehumanized body. Moving between language and image, they ask: why a poem? What can it hold that other forms cannot? And why do we continue to place our trust in the poet?
Hoda Afshar will present two of her video works, „Undone“ and an excerpt from „Remain“, alongside a poetry reading by Ghayath Almdahoun featuring his poem „If We Lived in a Virtual World“.
The session will be followed by a conversation between the two artists, reflecting on the role of poetic language in confronting injustice, and on beauty not as escape but as a form of resistance; one that insists on humanity where it is most denied. The discussion will also open onto questions of collectivity and solidarity, exploring how shared practices and entangled experiences might help us navigate, resist, and make sense of the systems of violence shaping our world.
Poster image: Hoda Afshar „Undone“ (video still)
(Bios in comment below)
