Queer Monuments and Super Surveillance
Batikh Batikh
at IceBox Project Space and The Rotunda
Batikh Batikh (BB) is a pop-up cinema and gallery that rents spaces to bring South-West Asian North African (SWANA) cinema to Philadelphia and exhibit solo exhibitions of local emerging SWANA women and LGBTQ+ artists. Based on a decolonial and anti-capitalist art model, all art is free to access, featured artists are paid, and 100% of proceeds go to mutual aid in the SWANA region. Founded in 2022 by Lebanese-American filmmaker and curator, Sarah Trad, the volunteer collective addresses the lack of SWANA programming and anti-zionist policies in the local and general art sector. BB is the intersection of museum-quality programming, cultural preservation, direct action and mutual aid. We table at all events, providing community resources like Know Your Rights Cards in Arabic and letter-writing to representatives or media outlets to raise awareness about the genocides in Sudan and Palestine.
BB’s project, Queer Monuments and Super Surveillance will explore the lived experiences of queer SWANA artists and the history of surveillance of Arab Americans throughout U.S. history. Queer Monuments will feature two solo exhibitions of work by local artists, Alyssa Khalifa and Basak Kilicbeyli, on view at IceBox Project Space from October 8th to November 15th. Each exhibition focuses on queerness and personal archives, collections and figures, standing as a temporary monument and hub for the local SWANA queer and immigrant community, during a year of xenophobic and homophobic propaganda. BB will host film screenings at the Rotunda on October 10th and 21st of cinema that explores the experiences of Arabs under surveillance throughout American history as a powerful counter-narrative to the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations.
Artist Bios
Alyssa Khalifa is an Egyptian-Lebanese-American painter, sculptor and educator with a BFA from Aquinas College and MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA). Using acrylic and oil paint, plaster, foam, and papyrus paper, she explores the juxtaposition of tender figuration and the physicality of mixed materials through a multicultural, queer lens. With over eight years of teaching experience, she currently teaches 7th-12th mixed media art and pre-college painting and drawing courses in Philadelphia.
Basak Kilicbeyli is a Philadelphia-based textile artist from Turkey. She ventured into printmaking during her BFA in Graphic Design at Yeditepe University. Pursuing an MFA at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) honed her craft in textiles and provided Basak with opportunities to exhibit at venues like Information Space. The Woodmere Art Museum proudly houses one of her rugs in its permanent collection, making her the collection’s first Turkish queer woman artist.
