Jessica El Mal is a curator, artist and writer [human] living and working between Manchester, London and Morocco. She is founder and co-director of A.MAL Projects , an art and research initiative between North Africa and Europe, curator of visual art at The Arab British Centre, and a PhD candidate at Leeds University.
Her work centers interaction, collectivity and notions of resistance within art and media as a way of world building. A way of taking decolonial, feminist and queer methodologies out of the theoretical realm and into one of practice. It is from this position that curatorial projects emerge.
Her approach has a commitment to addressing contemporary issues such as colonialism, migration, and climate change. The projects often challenge power structures, foster spaces for imagination and initiate world-building through visual art, performance, research, collaboration, and community engagement.
Projects which can give an example of her curatorial practice are; ARD Liverpool, a residency for UK, Morocco and Egypt based artists leading up to a day of performances at FACT, co-curated with Elodie Sacher; the Red Gold exhibition and public programmes which toured P21 London,CCA Glasgow(in partnership with Dardishi Magazine)and Mahal Art Space, Tangier and her ongoing Manchester based project This Garden, which includes Jarda with The Arab British Centre.