May Makki is an independent curator and writer specializing in performance, moving-image, and sound-based practices. Focusing on new commissions and working closely with living artists, she is particularly invested in the infrastructural possibilities of exhibition-making and considering the communities, economies, and technologies that develop alongside works of art.
She is Co-Curator of the 2026 Diriyah Contemporary Biennale, where she commissioned public works by Agustina Woodgate and Yussef Agbo-Ola and stewarded major loans by artists including Petrit Halilaj, Nour Mobarak, Nancy Mounir, and Daniel Lind-Ramos.
From 2022 to 2025, she was part of the curatorial team of the Department of Media and Performance at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, where she curated exhibitions and screenings such as Martin Beck: Last Night, An Evening with Haig Aivazian, and the collection display of works by Tala Madani.
Previously, she served in curatorial and research roles at Abrons Arts Center, the Wallach Art Gallery at Columbia University, and MoMA PS1. 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
Screen Memories
February 14-April 14, 2025
Abrons Arts Center and Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space, New York
Screen Memories considers the experience of mass media in the Arab world for a generation of artists who grew up in the early 2000s, at the tail end of network television's popularity. Using video and sound, artists Yara Asmar, Mona Benyamin, and Huda Takriti reference and reimagine the media they grew up with in new forms.
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.
Press:
- What to See in N.Y.C. Galleries in February
- Leo Goldsmith on “Screen Memories”
- Screen Memories of the Middle East
Photo: Frankie Tyska. Courtesy of Artists Alliance Inc. and Abrons Arts Center.