Fostering Artistic & Cultural Innovation in the Arab World | Krystel Khoury & Karim Kattan
We talked to Krystel Khoury and Karim Kattan about their work at Mophradat. Krystel is Mophradat's grants coordinator, and Karim is Mophradat's programs associate.
Mophradat is a Brussels and Athens-based nonprofit arts associations that creates opportunities for artists from the Arab world through an inventive approach to funding, commissioning, collaborating, and gathering. Mophradat’s way of working aims to be imaginative and ambitious, inclusive and hospitable.
Krystel Khoury is the grants coordinator at Mophradat. Born in Beirut, she has since 2006 been working as a cultural consultant for organizations in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, France, and Germany, for which she coordinates and implements projects engaging artists from the Arab world and Europe. Trained originally as a dancer, Khoury holds a Masters in Performing Arts from Université de Lyon and earned a Ph.D. in Anthropology of dance and intercultural dynamics from Auvergne Université in 2014. Her research focuses on embodied knowledge and political discourses, dance education, artistic processes, and anthropological theories. Her latest contributions include Theatre Against Borders (Arts Mdpi, 2018) and Dancing In The Waiting Room (ASA 18, Oxford University). She is also the editor of Lullabies from the Worlds of Islam (Al Ayn museum, 2018) and com(.)com (2019). Since 2019, she is the head professor of ISAC, Institut Supérieur des Arts et des Chorégraphies, at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts, in Brussels.
Karim Kattan is the programs associate at Mophradat. Born in Jerusalem, he is a writer and researcher. He holds a doctoral degree in comparative literature from Paris Nanterre University. He was one of the co-founders and directors of el-Atlal, an arts and writing residency in the oasis of Jericho (Palestine). His most recent books include a collection of short stories, Préliminaires pour un verger futur (2017) and a novel, Le Palais des deux collines (2021), which were both published by the Tunis-based éditions Elyzad. He writes in French and English.
The afikra Podcast
The afikra Podcast is our flagship series featuring experts from academia, art, media, urban planning, and beyond, who are helping document and shape the histories and cultures of the Arab world through their work.
