Welcome to From the Bench, SFCB's series of short studio tours with friends near and far. From favorite tools to works in progress, you never know what to expect from these amazing artists.

This month we'll chat with Maymanah Farhat, a writer, curator, and university lecturer living and working on occupied Yokuts land in California (Fresno). She has curated exhibitions throughout the U.S. and in Europe and the Arab world. Her writings and curatorial projects often focus on underrepresented artists and forgotten art scenes. 

Her From the Bench presentation, “Artists Books as a place of Melancholy and Mourning” will look at artists in the Arab world and its diaspora who, as the region has endured several large-scale conflicts over the last forty years, use the book form to describe, process, and draw attention to the physical and psychic toll of destruction, violence, and displacement. 

You can find out more at her website, maymanahfarhat.com.

Please visit our Vimeo page to see our past tours, previously known as Shelter in Studio.

Registration will close at noon on the day of the event.