The list is a never-ending form—we know this from our “to do” lists and grocery lists!—and around the world, the list is an enduring and important poetic form. In this slow art walk, we’ll engage the art of listing in order to make collaborative responses to select works of art. The origins of the word “list” will be our guide. As a noun, the word actually comes from a visual idea: of the edge, the selvage of fabric, strips of paper, bands, or rows. And as a verb, it has origins which are super interesting for our walk: “to tilt, to lean to one side,” “to hear,” “to put an edge around,” and “to provoke longing.” We might experience all of these things as we use words and lists to lean into the artworks we encounter!

Meeting point: A4 Space

Based in Abu Dhabi, UAE and Vermont, USA, Jill Magi works in text, image, and textile. The author of six books of poetry and numerous handmade books housed in the University at Buffalo Poetry Collection, Jill ran Sona Books for ten years, publishing chapbooks of experimental works that she described as “risky, quiet, and community-based.”

Her most recent book, Speech (Nightboat 2019), is set in a city of middles: something like the Middle East and something like the Midwest and the fictional wanderer who navigates these places resides in a female body of middle age. Jill has had residencies with the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and the Brooklyn Textile Arts Center, and has taught for more than twenty years at research universities, liberal arts colleges, in MFA and BFA programmes, and in community-based adult literacy programmes.

Jill has had solo exhibitions of visual work at 421, Southern Vermont Arts Center, Grey Noise, the NYU Abu Dhabi Project Space Gallery, and Tashkeel. She is a co-founder of JARA Collective, a UAE-based publishing initiative.

About Slow Art Walks

Aligned with ‘alternative ways of being’ and mindfulness, Alserkal Art Week Slow Art Walks invite the visitor to take the time to slow down and reflect, not to rush to unpack or understand. We’ll be joined by critical voices from the arts—both emerging and established—to welcome audiences to spend an evening with artworks in the Avenue. This spring’s two walks will last 45 minutes each starting at 7:30pm and 9:30pm, and will be led by Jill Magi and Auguste Nomeikaite.