May Makki
Selected Projects
Screen Memories
Martin Beck: Last Night
Nasa4nasa: Promises
JJJJJerome Ellis:
Loops of Retreat
Friends of Elliptical Orbits
RISO BAR
CV
Screen Memories
February 14-April 14, 2025Abrons Arts Center and Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space, New York
Public programming for this exhibition included a public tour and writing workshop on March 13th and a screening and performance by Ethan Philbrick at Metrograph on March 16th.
- What to See in N.Y.C. Galleries in February
- Leo Goldsmith on “Screen Memories”
- Screen Memories of the Middle East
Martin Beck: Last Night
June 1-2, 2024The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Martin Beck: Last Night presents the artist’s eponymous film work for one day only, on June 2, 2024. Acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in 2022, Last Night (2016) revisits the records that musical host David Mancuso played on June 2, 1984, at one of the last parties at the 99 Prince Street location of the legendary New York dance party known as the Loft.
Beginning on Valentine’s Day 1970, Mancuso regularly held invitation-only dance parties at his home, which later became known as the Loft. In this intimate yet vibrant communal space, high-quality sound and exquisite music were central to the atmosphere, and defined the Loft’s lasting influence on dance culture.
Taking a cue from Mancuso’s signature style of playing each song from beginning to end, no matter their length, Beck films the records spun on June 2, 1984, in full and in sequence, using 10 different camera angles in a pattern based on the Golden Ratio. Unfolding across 13 and a half hours, the work offers communion with that singular night, while simultaneously implying distance from the original event.
June 2, 2024, will mark exactly 40 years since the evening Last Night commemorates. Installed in MoMA’s Kravis Studio on this anniversary, the presentation creates the conditions for memory, contemplation, and celebration—highlighting the communities and exchange of ideas that develop alongside works of art.
Beginning on Valentine’s Day 1970, Mancuso regularly held invitation-only dance parties at his home, which later became known as the Loft. In this intimate yet vibrant communal space, high-quality sound and exquisite music were central to the atmosphere, and defined the Loft’s lasting influence on dance culture.
Taking a cue from Mancuso’s signature style of playing each song from beginning to end, no matter their length, Beck films the records spun on June 2, 1984, in full and in sequence, using 10 different camera angles in a pattern based on the Golden Ratio. Unfolding across 13 and a half hours, the work offers communion with that singular night, while simultaneously implying distance from the original event.
June 2, 2024, will mark exactly 40 years since the evening Last Night commemorates. Installed in MoMA’s Kravis Studio on this anniversary, the presentation creates the conditions for memory, contemplation, and celebration—highlighting the communities and exchange of ideas that develop alongside works of art.
- The Playlist from a 1984 New York City Dance Party, Recreated for One Day at MoMA
- Dada Strain’s Bklyn Sounds 5/30/2024—6/5/2024
Nasa4nasa: Promises
August 1, 202499 Canal, NY
nasa4nasa is a dance collective co-founded in Cairo in 2016 by dancers Noura Seif Hassanein and Salma AbdelSalam.
In the early days of their practice, nasa4nasa would intervene into public and semi-public spaces and perform “vignettes” that they would post on Instagram. Since that moment, they have presented their work on digital platforms and at international performance venues alike. In both virtual and physical formats, their work explores themes of virtuality, desire, and twinning.
At 99 Canal, nasa4nasa performed Promises, a new improvisational score in which two bodies attempt to choreograph a field of tender composition. The performance was followed by a conversation available here.
In the early days of their practice, nasa4nasa would intervene into public and semi-public spaces and perform “vignettes” that they would post on Instagram. Since that moment, they have presented their work on digital platforms and at international performance venues alike. In both virtual and physical formats, their work explores themes of virtuality, desire, and twinning.
At 99 Canal, nasa4nasa performed Promises, a new improvisational score in which two bodies attempt to choreograph a field of tender composition. The performance was followed by a conversation available here.
JJJJJerome Ellis: Loops of Retreat
May 25-July 22, 2023Sweet Pass Sculpture Park with support from Dallas Contemporary
In his album The Clearing (2021), the JJJJJerome Ellis imagines his block stutter to be a point of departure for examining the relationship between music, blackness, disabled speech, and time. The artist's stutter manifests as intervals of silence in his speech. He calls these intervals “clearings,” which shift from compositional tool to metaphor to disruptor of “conventional” time as the album unfolds. For this exhibition, the opening track from the album was presented as an immersive audio and video environment in SP2. Through musical and textual references alike, Ellis expanded on Harriet Jacobs’ concept of the “loophole of retreat,” exploring practices of refusal in Black speech and music. Ellis says of The Clearing: “I hope this album offers the listener some of what my stutter offers me: an opportunity to imagine new ways of being in time.”
The installation was presented in conjunction with a live improvisation by the artist on May 25th, 2023, produced with support from Dallas Contemporary, which reflected Ellis’ research into how themes explored in The Clearing come into contact with ecology. Drawing on materials collected for his book Aster of Ceremonies (September 2023), Ellis sensitively transformed archival material of so-called “runaway slave advertisements,” into an open-ended song for Black ancestors moving through 19th century Virginia. Reimagining these figures as plants in bloom, he sang for their safety, considering the relationship between ecology and practices of freedom.
The installation was presented in conjunction with a live improvisation by the artist on May 25th, 2023, produced with support from Dallas Contemporary, which reflected Ellis’ research into how themes explored in The Clearing come into contact with ecology. Drawing on materials collected for his book Aster of Ceremonies (September 2023), Ellis sensitively transformed archival material of so-called “runaway slave advertisements,” into an open-ended song for Black ancestors moving through 19th century Virginia. Reimagining these figures as plants in bloom, he sang for their safety, considering the relationship between ecology and practices of freedom.
Friends of Elliptical Orbits
April 2-May 29, 2022Hessel Museum of Art
Friends of Elliptical Orbits presents Kayfa ta and Radio Alhara, two ongoing collaborative projects that offer new approaches to communal production. Kayfa ta, an Arabic publishing initiative using the form of the “how to” manual, and Radio Alhara, an online radio platform started in Palestine, are both low-budget projects that prioritize agency and accessibility. Linked by these resonant sensibilities, the projects form communities that extend beyond the Arab world.
Friends of Elliptical Orbits presents Kayfa ta and Radio Alhara together for the first time and marks the U.S. exhibition debuts of both projects. Unfolding across sites including the Hessel Museum, a Bard College shuttle stop, and radioalhara.net, Friends of Elliptical Orbits explores how each project’s design and structure embody its values. New recordings of Kayfa ta books produced with Bard faculty and students are available for listening both at the Hessel Museum and via broadcast on Radio Alhara. On the occasion of Kayfa ta’s U.S. debut, which coincides with the project’s 10th anniversary, Kayfa ta will conduct a series of interviews with publishers, distributors and actors in the expanded field of independent publishing. This research aims to sketch existing networks of distribution and imagine how Kayfa ta could expand their reach stateside.
Public programming for Friends of Elliptical Orbits includes an in-person talk with Kayfa ta co-founders Maha Maamoun and Ala Younis moderated by Dina Ramadan, Assistant Professor of Arabic and Co-Director of Middle Eastern Studies at Bard College.
With support from the OSUN Center for Human Rights & the Arts at Bard.
Friends of Elliptical Orbits presents Kayfa ta and Radio Alhara together for the first time and marks the U.S. exhibition debuts of both projects. Unfolding across sites including the Hessel Museum, a Bard College shuttle stop, and radioalhara.net, Friends of Elliptical Orbits explores how each project’s design and structure embody its values. New recordings of Kayfa ta books produced with Bard faculty and students are available for listening both at the Hessel Museum and via broadcast on Radio Alhara. On the occasion of Kayfa ta’s U.S. debut, which coincides with the project’s 10th anniversary, Kayfa ta will conduct a series of interviews with publishers, distributors and actors in the expanded field of independent publishing. This research aims to sketch existing networks of distribution and imagine how Kayfa ta could expand their reach stateside.
Public programming for Friends of Elliptical Orbits includes an in-person talk with Kayfa ta co-founders Maha Maamoun and Ala Younis moderated by Dina Ramadan, Assistant Professor of Arabic and Co-Director of Middle Eastern Studies at Bard College.
With support from the OSUN Center for Human Rights & the Arts at Bard.
RISO BAR
Pollock Gallery at Southern Methodist UniversityJan 25-Dec 15, 2020
The risograph is a printing technology defined by its relative simplicity and the possibilities it offers for experimentation. Invented in Japan in the 1980s, the risograph was imagined as a cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to photocopy machines. In subsequent decades, riso has transformed into a definitive creative tool in art, design and publishing circles, with a global network of artists, designers, publishers, studios and institutions. RISO BAR is a collaborative exhibition that engages with the risograph as a tool for learning and experimentation.
Over the course of the exhibition, a risograph machine will be available for public use. The machine forms the core of the exhibition: it is what we learn with, practice with, and make with. Visitors to create artworks and publications of their own. A series of programmed workshops led by riso producers from Texas and elsewhere will allow visitors to develop and expand both their skills and knowledge of riso history and practices.These workshops will be free and open to the public.
In collaboration with the SMU Hamon Arts Library the exhibition will include a curated library of riso books and zines from all over the world, as well as fresh juices from Recipe Oak Cliff playing off the ideas of the RISO BAR.
RISO BAR is a space of collective learning and skill-building, a launch pad that will develop into an extant riso press in Dallas after the show comes to an end.
RISO BAR is a collaborative initiative between Strange Powers Press, May Makki, Finn Jubak, Recipe Oak Cliff and the SMU Hamon Arts Library.
Over the course of the exhibition, a risograph machine will be available for public use. The machine forms the core of the exhibition: it is what we learn with, practice with, and make with. Visitors to create artworks and publications of their own. A series of programmed workshops led by riso producers from Texas and elsewhere will allow visitors to develop and expand both their skills and knowledge of riso history and practices.These workshops will be free and open to the public.
In collaboration with the SMU Hamon Arts Library the exhibition will include a curated library of riso books and zines from all over the world, as well as fresh juices from Recipe Oak Cliff playing off the ideas of the RISO BAR.
RISO BAR is a space of collective learning and skill-building, a launch pad that will develop into an extant riso press in Dallas after the show comes to an end.
RISO BAR is a collaborative initiative between Strange Powers Press, May Makki, Finn Jubak, Recipe Oak Cliff and the SMU Hamon Arts Library.
2025
Curator, Out of Bounds, [video game installation and screening with Yannis Mohand Briki, Bahareh Khoshooee, Sara Sadik, and Firas Shehadeh], ArteEast and Millennium Film Workshop, New York, June 17-27. 2025.
Curator, 211: Tala Madani as part of Collection 1980s-Present, [collection gallery], The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2025-2026.
Curator, Screen Memories: Yara Asmar, Mona Benyamin, Huda Takriti, [exhibition], Abrons Arts Center, New York, February 14-April 14, 2025.
2024
Curatorial Assistant, Nour Mobarak: Dafne Phono, [exhibition], The Museum of Modern Art, New York, October 26, 2024-June 12, 2025.
Curator and moderator, Nasa4nasa: Promises, [performance and artist talk], 99 Canal, New York, August 1, 2024.
Curatorial Assistant, Studio Sound: Sable Elyse Smith, [exhibition and performance program], The Museum of Modern Art, New York, July 3-14, 2024.
Curator and moderator, Martin Beck: Last Night, [exhibition and artist talk], The Museum of Modern Art, New York, June 1-2, 2024.
Curator and moderator, Modern Mondays: An Evening with Haig Aivazian, [screening and conversation], The Museum of Modern Art, New York, March 11, 2024.
Curatorial Assistant, Shana Moulton: Meta/Physical Therapy, [exhibition and performance program], The Museum of Modern Art, New York, February 17-April 21, 2024.
2023
Curatorial Researcher, Partisans of the Nude: An Arab Art Genre in an Era of Contest, 1920-1960, [exhibition], The Wallach Art Gallery at Columbia University, New York, October 6, 2023-January 14, 2024.
Curatorial Assistant, Alexandre Estrela: Flat Bells, [exhibition], The Museum of Modern Art, New York, November 4, 2023-January 7, 2024.
Curatorial Assistant, Studio Sound: Suzanne Ciani and Sarah Davachi, [performance program], The Museum of Modern Art, New York, September 7-17, 2023.
Co-curator, Modern Mondays: An Evening with Marwa Arsanios, [screening], The Museum of Modern Art, New York, April 17, 2024.
Curatorial Assistant, Lawrence Abu Hamdan: Walled Unwalled and Other Monologues, [exhibition and performance program], The Museum of Modern Art, New York, April 8-11, 2023.
Curatorial Assistant, Studio Residency: Pamela Z, [residency and performance program], The Museum of Modern Art, New York, August 3-6, 2023.
Curator, JJJJJerome Ellis: Loops of Retreat, [exhibition and performance], Sweet Pass Sculpture Park with Dallas Contemporary, May 25-July 22, 2023.
Curator and moderator, The Broken Pitcher (dirs. Natascha Sadr Haghighian and Marina Christodoulidou, 2022), [screening and conversation], Spectacle Cinema, New York, March 11, 2023.
Co-curator, Beyond Documentation: Aesthetics of Policing, [Two-day workshop and screening with contributors Sierra Pettengill, LaCharles Ward, and Isshaq Albarbary], Center for Human Rights and the Arts, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, February 3-4, 2023.
2022
Curatorial Assistant, Studio Residency: Okwui Okpokwasili, [residency and performance program], The Museum of Modern Art, New York, July 30-August 28, 2022.
Curatorial Assistant, Yve Laris Cohen: Studio/Theater, [exhibition and performance program], The Museum of Modern Art, New York, October 8, 2022-January 1, 2023.
Curator, Friends of Elliptical Orbits: Kayfa ta and Radio Alhara, [exhibition and public programs], The Hessel Museum of Art, Annandal-on-Hudson, New York, April 2-May 29, 2022.
2021
Curatorial Research Associate, Greater New York 2021, [survey exhibition], MoMA PS1, New York, October 7, 2021-April 18, 2022.
Co-curator, Neutral Background, [group exhibition including Sondra Perry, Liz Deschenes, and Tauba Auerbach], The Hessel Museum of Art, Annandal-on-Hudson, New York, April 3-April 18, 2021.
2020
Co-curator, Erik DeLuka: The Staff of Asclepias, [exhibition], Sweet Pass Sculpture Park, Dallas, June 6-August 1, 2020.
Co-curator, RISO BAR, [exhibition and public program], The Pollock Gallery at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, January 25-August 15, 2020.
Writing
2024
“Kamal AlJafari’s A Fidai Film,” [article], Screen Slate
“Visiting the Loft, Where Music and Dancing are Sacred,” [interview], MoMA Magazine
2023
“Jonathas de Andrade’s Olho da Rua (Out Loud),” [interview], MoMA Magazine
“Rabih Mroué’s Pixelated Revolution,” [interview], MoMA Magazine
“A Studio in the Studio: An Interview with Lawrence Abu Hamdan,” [interview], MoMA Magazine
“In the Studio with Haig Aivazian,” [interview], Art21
2022
“Coleman Collins at Brief Histories,” [exhibition review], Art in America
“Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abu-Rahme at MoMA,” [article], Screen Slate
“Huguette Caland: Tête-à-Tête,” [exhibition review], H-Net
“One Work: Etel Adnan at the Guggenheim,” [artwork focus], Art in America
Curator, Out of Bounds, [video game installation and screening with Yannis Mohand Briki, Bahareh Khoshooee, Sara Sadik, and Firas Shehadeh], ArteEast and Millennium Film Workshop, New York, June 17-27. 2025.
Curator, 211: Tala Madani as part of Collection 1980s-Present, [collection gallery], The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2025-2026.
Curator, Screen Memories: Yara Asmar, Mona Benyamin, Huda Takriti, [exhibition], Abrons Arts Center, New York, February 14-April 14, 2025.
2024
Curatorial Assistant, Nour Mobarak: Dafne Phono, [exhibition], The Museum of Modern Art, New York, October 26, 2024-June 12, 2025.
Curator and moderator, Nasa4nasa: Promises, [performance and artist talk], 99 Canal, New York, August 1, 2024.
Curatorial Assistant, Studio Sound: Sable Elyse Smith, [exhibition and performance program], The Museum of Modern Art, New York, July 3-14, 2024.
Curator and moderator, Martin Beck: Last Night, [exhibition and artist talk], The Museum of Modern Art, New York, June 1-2, 2024.
Curator and moderator, Modern Mondays: An Evening with Haig Aivazian, [screening and conversation], The Museum of Modern Art, New York, March 11, 2024.
Curatorial Assistant, Shana Moulton: Meta/Physical Therapy, [exhibition and performance program], The Museum of Modern Art, New York, February 17-April 21, 2024.
2023
Curatorial Researcher, Partisans of the Nude: An Arab Art Genre in an Era of Contest, 1920-1960, [exhibition], The Wallach Art Gallery at Columbia University, New York, October 6, 2023-January 14, 2024.
Curatorial Assistant, Alexandre Estrela: Flat Bells, [exhibition], The Museum of Modern Art, New York, November 4, 2023-January 7, 2024.
Curatorial Assistant, Studio Sound: Suzanne Ciani and Sarah Davachi, [performance program], The Museum of Modern Art, New York, September 7-17, 2023.
Co-curator, Modern Mondays: An Evening with Marwa Arsanios, [screening], The Museum of Modern Art, New York, April 17, 2024.
Curatorial Assistant, Lawrence Abu Hamdan: Walled Unwalled and Other Monologues, [exhibition and performance program], The Museum of Modern Art, New York, April 8-11, 2023.
Curatorial Assistant, Studio Residency: Pamela Z, [residency and performance program], The Museum of Modern Art, New York, August 3-6, 2023.
Curator, JJJJJerome Ellis: Loops of Retreat, [exhibition and performance], Sweet Pass Sculpture Park with Dallas Contemporary, May 25-July 22, 2023.
Curator and moderator, The Broken Pitcher (dirs. Natascha Sadr Haghighian and Marina Christodoulidou, 2022), [screening and conversation], Spectacle Cinema, New York, March 11, 2023.
Co-curator, Beyond Documentation: Aesthetics of Policing, [Two-day workshop and screening with contributors Sierra Pettengill, LaCharles Ward, and Isshaq Albarbary], Center for Human Rights and the Arts, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, February 3-4, 2023.
2022
Curatorial Assistant, Studio Residency: Okwui Okpokwasili, [residency and performance program], The Museum of Modern Art, New York, July 30-August 28, 2022.
Curatorial Assistant, Yve Laris Cohen: Studio/Theater, [exhibition and performance program], The Museum of Modern Art, New York, October 8, 2022-January 1, 2023.
Curator, Friends of Elliptical Orbits: Kayfa ta and Radio Alhara, [exhibition and public programs], The Hessel Museum of Art, Annandal-on-Hudson, New York, April 2-May 29, 2022.
2021
Curatorial Research Associate, Greater New York 2021, [survey exhibition], MoMA PS1, New York, October 7, 2021-April 18, 2022.
Co-curator, Neutral Background, [group exhibition including Sondra Perry, Liz Deschenes, and Tauba Auerbach], The Hessel Museum of Art, Annandal-on-Hudson, New York, April 3-April 18, 2021.
2020
Co-curator, Erik DeLuka: The Staff of Asclepias, [exhibition], Sweet Pass Sculpture Park, Dallas, June 6-August 1, 2020.
Co-curator, RISO BAR, [exhibition and public program], The Pollock Gallery at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, January 25-August 15, 2020.
Writing
2024
“Kamal AlJafari’s A Fidai Film,” [article], Screen Slate
“Visiting the Loft, Where Music and Dancing are Sacred,” [interview], MoMA Magazine
2023
“Jonathas de Andrade’s Olho da Rua (Out Loud),” [interview], MoMA Magazine
“Rabih Mroué’s Pixelated Revolution,” [interview], MoMA Magazine
“A Studio in the Studio: An Interview with Lawrence Abu Hamdan,” [interview], MoMA Magazine
“In the Studio with Haig Aivazian,” [interview], Art21
2022
“Coleman Collins at Brief Histories,” [exhibition review], Art in America
“Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abu-Rahme at MoMA,” [article], Screen Slate
“Huguette Caland: Tête-à-Tête,” [exhibition review], H-Net
“One Work: Etel Adnan at the Guggenheim,” [artwork focus], Art in America