Podcast: Season 6, Episode 7, “Decontaminating Our Imaginary”

Season 6

For the 50th (!) episode of Momus: The Podcast, Lauren Wetmore speaks to Nasrin Himada, a Palestinian curator and writer who is currently associate curator at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. “I write for my people. I write for Palestinians, and I write for the liberation of our lands,” Himada says of their practice, which foregrounds “embodiment as method, desire as transformation, and liberation through many forms.” Wetmore and Himada discuss esteemed Caribbean-Canadian poet and writer M. NourbeSe Philip’s text, “Interview with an Empire” (2003), thinking through how Philip teaches us to decontaminate language from imperialism so that it can “truly speak our truths.” Himada touches on strategies, including artistic experimentation, collective action, and love.

This episode is supported by the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery’s In/Tension podcast, and the Sobey Art Award at the National Gallery of Canada.

Momus: The Podcast is edited by Jacob Irish, with production assistance from Chris Andrews.

Hosts: Lauren Wetmore and Sky Goodden

About the Guest

About the Guest, and more

Nasrin Himada is a Palestinian curator and writer. Their practice is heavily influenced by their long-term friendships and by their many on-going collaborations with artists, filmmakers and poets. Nasrin’s ongoing project, For Many Returns, experiments with writing as an act dictated by love, and typifies their current curatorial interests, which foreground desire as transformation, and liberation through many forms. Nasrin currently holds the position of Associate Curator at Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’s University.