May Makki

May Makki is an independent curator and writer. From 2022 to 2025, she was Curatorial Assistant at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, where she contributed to the programming of The Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Studio, focusing on new commissions and presentations of live and time-based art. She curated, co-organized, and supported projects such as Martin Beck: Last Night, An Evening with Haig Aivazian, the collection display of works by Tala Madani, and Nour Mobarak: Dafne Phono. She was the 2024–25 Curatorial AIRspace resident at Abrons Arts Center. She previously held curatorial and research positions at the Wallach Art Gallery at Columbia University, MoMA PS1, and Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art. Her writing and interviews have been published in Art in America, Art21, and Screen Slate, among others. She holds an MA from the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College and a BA from the University of Chicago.

may.makki@gmail.com

Friends of Elliptical Orbits

April 2-May 29, 2022
Hessel 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.

Photo: Olympia Shannon 2022.