The A.M. Qattan Foundation (AMQF) invites proposals for its spring 2026 project Elegiac Whispers, guest-curated by Amin Alsaden. The project includes an exhibition featuring both invited artists and participants selected through this open call, site-specific installations, a publication, a series of public programs, and regional partnerships. We encourage submissions from artists, creatives, performers, poets, and writers, as well as cultural organizations worldwide.
Elegiac Whispers holds space for grief, examining what it means to mourn communally, beyond formulaic condolences, familiar rituals, and stereotypical imagery. The project proceeds from the premise that to express sorrow, individually or collectively, is neither to surrender nor to accept defeat. Instead, it is to denounce the cruelty of apathy and the futility of denying pain. It is to affirm the right to mark profound loss—of human lives, homelands, intimacy, language, and ancestral practices, among other tribulations that the Arab world and its diasporas continue to endure.
In Arabic, there is no clear definition of grief. The word huzn is construed as the opposite of happiness or joy, but hazn, the same word with altered diacritics, describes rugged terrains, and can designate Arab lands more specifically. These homonyms imply deep entanglements between grief and this geography, which reverberate throughout its poetic traditions. One of the key genres of Arabic poetry, al-rithā’ (elegy), historically opened with a form of lamentation, most famously the motif of al-wuqūf ‘alā al-aṭlāl, or stopping by ruins, often employed as a prelude to other subjects. Similarly—and rather than seeking closure—reconciling with harrowing absences can also be an overture, opening windows into a complex reality occluded by survival mechanisms. This project, deeply anchored in the cultural specificity of Arab heritage, is informed by the literary devices that enable poetry to grapple with grief, even when its representations prove elusive. Poetry here is both metaphor and methodology.
Arabic poetry has long offered solace, when everyday words fail to capture grief in a region shaped by recurrent tragedies. While the project is a work in progress and will evolve alongside the participants’ reflections, it aims to engage that rupture, exploring how grief is both ineffable, evading tangible translations, and intrusive, like an insidious apparition relentlessly haunting those unable to grasp or escape it. The project is an ode to that liminal condition of irresolvable ambivalence, disorienting alienation, and perpetual agony—defiantly suspended within a restless space of elegiac whispers*. It speaks of fatigue and entropy, but equally of resistance, remembrance, and truth.
We are looking for thoughtful reflections that capture the overwhelming grief that chokes the Arab world today, while remaining cognizant of a longer history of devastating losses. All responses are welcome, but the following questions will guide the selection process:
1. Is there an intimate personal connection between the applicant, the proposed work, and the context?
2. Is the proposal in dialogue with Arab poetic traditions, or steeped in the language, cultures, and histories of the region?
3. Does the work capture the elusive, yet relentless, nature of grief, and does it acknowledge the difficulty of representing it?
4. Does the conceptual approach account for the emotional dimensions of this sensitive subject, including its deep resonance with grieving communities today?
5. Does the work avoid conventional representations (specifically, ethically questionable or potentially harmful practices, such as depicting people in compromised conditions without their consent)?
We hope to receive proposals not only of artworks, but of short essays, poems, stories, testimonies, open letters, archival snippets, photographs, posters, illustrations, recipes, and public programs, among other possible ways participants may wish to express their grief, or solidarity with those grieving.
Eligibility
Applicants should be from the Arab world, whether currently living in the region or elsewhere.
Artists based outside the West Bank are expected to participate in the exhibition with ephemeral works that can be produced locally, then dismantled and recycled at the end (unless other arrangements are agreed to in advance), or with media such as video or sound. Shipping is not possible. Preference will be given to proposals that are environmentally responsible, as well as sensitive to locally available materials and skills.
Organizations interested in partnerships, whether those based in the Arab world or have a proven track record of serving Arab communities globally, may use the application form or contact the AMQF directly. We are open to co-presentations (including realizing works that would not be possible to present at the AMQF), and to exploring other ways of collaborating, during or after the launch of the project.
Applications
Applications should be submitted electronically, in Arabic or English, using the online form. You will receive an automatic confirmation email when your application is submitted successfully.
Applicants should consider, and indicate, where they envision their potential contributions might fit (the exhibition, the publication, the public programs, or the partnerships). Please focus on providing a short description of what you intend to create, along with relevant samples of your work. Existing work yet to be presented widely will be considered.
Review Process
A committee comprised of the curator and members of the AMQF will review the applications and select a preliminary list of participants. Some applicants may be contacted to provide additional information or to consider adjustments that would make their proposals feasible. Following the selection of participants, virtual meetings with the curator and the AMQF team will take place in preparation for the launch.
Budget
An honorarium will be offered to the selected participants. For artworks, each proposal will be studied carefully, and the AMQF may cover production costs, when relevant (especially if a new work is commissioned for this project, or must be reconstructed by the AMQF).
Timeline
Applications received by 30 September 2025, 11:59 pm Ramallah time, will be given full consideration. Applications submitted up to 31 October 2025 will also be reviewed, and may be included if there is still capacity.
Shortlisted participants will be informed incrementally, until the selection is finalized by 31 December 2025. We regret that we will only be able to contact those whose proposals are selected.
Launch: Spring 2026.
If you have any questions, or if you require help with the submission form, please contact us ahead of the deadline at: elegiacwhispers@qattanfoundation.org
* The project’s title is borrowed from Badr Shakir Al-Sayyab’s 1963 poem manzil al-aqnan (The House of Serfs).
* The title's Arabic lettering by Naji El Mir.