we refuse_d

Walid Raad is a visual artist and professor whose multidisciplinary practice explores how violence, memory and narrative shape personal and collective histories. Deeply informed by his experiences during the Lebanese wars and the broader political realities of the Middle East, Raad’s work spans photography, video, performance and text. Across these forms, he engages how events are remembered, recorded and transmitted–frequently creating imaginary documents and stories. 

I thought I’d escape my fate (again) engages with the multifaceted notion of “refusal” in both broad terms and through specific experiences. The installation was created in collaboration with graphic designer Pierre Huyghebaert whose practice focuses on using free software to rethink collaborative processes across cartography, type design, web interfaces, schematic illustration and book design. The project brings together statements from those who have cancelled art exhibitions, lectures, and concerts related to Palestine, as well as voices of those whose events were cancelled. The layered and blurred quotes, in English, French, Arabic and German, create an abstract, three-dimensional, almost illegible effect. This intentional blurring serves as a meta-commentary on refusal itself, while also highlighting the institutional use of text as a mechanism of power and control. I thought I’d escape my fate (again) asks viewers to reflect on refusal as both a visible act of dissent and a subtle form of suppression within cultural institutions.

we refuse_d is produced by Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, on the occasion of their 15th anniversary, and presented in partnership with M HKA.
Curated by Nadia Radwan and Vasıf Kortun.

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  I thought I’d escape my fate (again), 2026

  Walid Raad