Bellagio Residency: September 2022
Project: “Don’t be a Stranger”
Yazan Khalili is an architect and visual artist. His works have been exhibited in several major exhibitions, including, among others: New Photography, MoMA, 2018; Jerusalem Lives, Palestinian Museum, 2017; Post-Peace, Kunstverein Stuttgart, 2017; Shanghai Biennial, 2016; and Sharjah Biennial, 2013. While in Bellagio in September 2022, Yazan investigated the history of facial recognition technologies and how it has been used in former colonies to decipher and define who is designated as ‘human’. This research is about the techno-ideological gaze, the gaze that constructs the way we understand the world around us. It will be the basis for a new body of work, drawing from anthropological interviews and encounters.