Can there be art without craft?
This week, artists @wafaabilal , @mollycrabapple , @fendevilliers and @samaritual debate labor, intent, craft and class in contemporary art.
Moderated by @nadir.nahdi .
Watch the extended cut of the latest Doha Debates Podcast episode ➡️ link in bio
This week on the Doha Debates Podcast, artists @wafaabilal , @mollycrabapple , @fendevilliers and @samaritual share the art and artists that have stayed with them🖼️
🔗Visit the link in bio for the extended cut of our debate on contemporary art.
February 14, Toronto. Over 500,000 people! On a day dedicated to love. 💪🏻😭
I wasn’t in the crowd this time, but I was not somewhere else either.
I waited all week from another time zone, following the buses arriving from across Ontario, Telegram groups opening homes, strangers handing out food, Canadian officials standing beside Iranians. I watched it form, hour by hour, Wafaa and I kept talking about it as it unfolded.
On a day the world calls Valentine’s Day, families inside Iran were placing flowers where their children were shot. And in Toronto, people gathered. 🫀
Yesterday reminded me that exile does not erase belonging. It stretches it. 🏹 فوریه، تورنتو. بیش از پانصد هزار نفر.💪🏻😭
من وسط جمعیت نبودم، اما تمام روز حس میکردم همانجا ایستادهام.
از آن سوی دنیا خبرها را لحظهبهلحظه دنبال میکردم؛ اتوبوسهایی که از شهرهای مختلف راه افتاده بودند، خانههایی که برای غریبهها باز میشد، آدمهایی که برای هم غذا میآوردند، و مسئولانی که کنار ایرانیها میایستادند. میدیدم چطور آرامآرام شکل میگیرد و با وفا لحظهبهلحظه دربارهاش حرف میزدیم.
در روزی که اسمش را گذاشتهاند روز عشق، در ایران گل بر خاکی گذاشته میشد که فرزندانمان روی آن افتادند. و آنطرفتر، در تورنتو، مردم کنار هم جمع شدند.
دیروز فهمیدم فاصله، تعلق را کم نمیکند؛ فقط گستردهترش میکند.🏹
روز عشقمان مبارک 🫀
Over 145,000 people have walked through Indulge Me at the @mcachicago . That number still feels unreal to write. What matters more to me is the time, attention, and openness each visitor brought into the space.
Alongside this, I’ve been quietly absorbing the conversations around the exhibition being named among the Top 10 exhibitions by @artforum and the Top 20 exhibitions of the year by @artnews , and learning that Virtual Jihadi was recognized by @artnews as one of the 100 most important works of the past quarter century made me pause; not as an endpoint, but as a reflection on how work travels beyond its maker.
We’re truly humbled to share that we received the First-Time Innovator award at the 2025 NYU and NYUAD Innovators’ Reception, co-hosted by NYU Technology Opportunities and Ventures (TOV) and the Office of Research Translation and Entrepreneurship (RTE). We’re closing this chapter with gratitude. This recognition highlights our creative research at the intersection of art, technology, and scientific collaboration, and celebrates the growing contributions of artistic practice to NYU and NYUAD’s innovation ecosystem.
I’m truly honored to share that I’ve been named ARTnews Established Artist of the Year 2025. Grateful for the conversations, challenges, and communities that continue to shape my work. Thank you for being part of this journey.
/art-news/artists/wafaa-bilal-artnews-awards-2025-established-artist-1234762916/
Wafaa won @artnews ARTnews’ Established Artist of the Year 2025 Award! 🫂🥺 🎉 An award honoring excellence in art achievements at US arts institutions. Yesterday we received the news and I’ve been quietly, deeply thinking about how proud I am to stand beside such a visionary human. ✨🙏🏻
I’ve witnessed so many milestones with him and yet, seeing this recognition arrive feels like a new joy of its own. Congratulations to my partner in life. I’m honored to walk beside you every day, fully present, fully proud. 💗😭🥂
And my heartfelt thanks to @banakattan , @1girl3stripes , and the @mcachicago amazing team for making this possible. 🥹🙏🏻🌍
The 2025 ARTnews Award for Established Artist of the Year is awarded to Wafaa Bilal for “Wafaa Bilal: Indulge Me” at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, which was on view from February 1–October 19, 2025.
For nearly two decades, Bilal—whose work often examines the role of the United States in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq, in the immediate aftermath of 9/11—has put his body on the line for his art-making.
“Indulge Me,” the first major survey for the Iraqi American artist, showcased how his work highlights the tension—implicit at times, explicit at others—between what is perceived to be a conflict zone and what is perceived to be its inverse, a “comfort zone.” Bilal’s art, most notably his 2007 performance “Domestic Tension,” raises questions about the implications of aggression, making it prescient in our current moment, in which conflicts in many corners of the world are seen at a remove by many.
Read more about Bilal and his award at the link in our bio.
Almost two weeks left before ‘Indulge Me’ closes at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago @mcachicago . Curated with such care by Bana Kattan @banakattan , this show has been more than an exhibition; it’s been a shared space of reflection, risk, and tenderness. As I scroll through the photos and videos, I’m overwhelmed by the moments; our friends, our family, everyone who showed up with love, curiosity, and presence. It’s hard to even choose what to post. Every frame carries something. Thank you to everyone who stood beside Wafaa and with us in this journey. Your support meant more than words can hold. If you haven’t seen the show, there’s still time, until October 19. Yallah!!
Friday night at MCA we sucked the sweetness out of Saddam’s head. 🍭
Sold-out Amreeka show, laughter louder than fear, a night where resistance tasted like candy.
May every dictator melt the same way, between our teeth, turned into nothing but crunch and dust with taste of survival.. a reminder that they may haunt the past but we rise above them. #🍓#🍋 #Amreeka #CantoIII #Iran #Iraq
