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| Christine Tohmé | |
|---|---|
| Name | Christine Tohmé |
| Birth date | 1955 |
| Birth place | Beirut, Lebanon |
| Occupation | Curator, arts organiser, critic |
| Known for | Founder and director of Ashkal Alwan, founder of Home Workspace for Contemporary Art |
| Awards | Prince Claus Fund awards, Taʿwīl Award (example) |
Christine Tohmé
Christine Tohmé is a Lebanese curator, arts organiser, and critic known for founding Ashkal Alwan and establishing the Home Workspace for Contemporary Art in Beirut. Her work links contemporary art practices across the Middle East, North Africa, and international circuits including institutions such as the Tate Modern, MoMA PS1, and the Serpentine Galleries. Tohmé has been instrumental in facilitating exchanges among artists, festivals, and universities including Beirut Art Center, American University of Beirut, and Sursock Museum.
Tohmé was born in Beirut in 1955 into a period marked by social change and later conflict linked to the Lebanese Civil War. She pursued studies that intersected with visual culture and critical theory, engaging with curricula influenced by figures connected to École des Beaux-Arts, Sorbonne University, and networks around the Institut du Monde Arabe. Early exposure to archives, magazines, and exhibition histories, including collections similar to those of the British Museum and Bibliothèque nationale de France, shaped her interest in regional art histories and diasporic practices.
Tohmé’s career spans roles as curator, publisher, and educator, collaborating with platforms such as the Venice Biennale, Sharjah Biennial, Documenta, and Manifesta. She has produced programs and publications in conversation with institutions like Centre Pompidou, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, and MAXXI Museum. Tohmé has taught and lectured at academic venues including the Beaux-Arts de Paris, Goldsmiths, University of London, and the University of the Arts London, and partnered with funders such as the Ford Foundation and the Prince Claus Fund.
In 1993 she founded Ashkal Alwan, an association that produces the annual Home Works Forum, workshops, publications, and exhibition projects. Through Ashkal Alwan she initiated the Home Workspace for Contemporary Art (HWCA), a multi-year educational platform that has hosted cohorts of artists, critics, and curators from across the Arab World, Africa, and Europe. HWCA has been presented alongside festivals and institutions such as the Sharjah Art Foundation, Sursock Museum, Documenta 14, and the British Council, and has partnered with galleries and museums including Whitechapel Gallery and Lisson Gallery. The Home Works Forum became a key gathering parallel to biennials like the Venice Biennale and the Gwangju Biennale for exchange among practitioners, activists, and scholars.
Tohmé’s curatorial approach emphasizes collective production, pedagogy, and experimentation, aligning with practices seen in relational aesthetics-adjacent projects and participatory programs at institutions such as Tate Modern and MoMA PS1. She foregrounds research-driven exhibitions, collaborative residencies, and printed matter, dialoguing with artists and collectives connected to Walid Raad, Akram Zaatari, Wael Shawky, Hassan Khan, and institutions like the Kitchen. Her philosophy interrogates archives and memory in relation to urban transformations in Beirut and regional histories linked to the Ottoman Empire, Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon, and postcolonial networks involving Paris, Cairo, and New York City. Tohmé integrates formats from salons and symposiums to performance and publication, interfacing with pedagogical experiments at Rijksakademie, Het Nieuwe Instituut, and university programs.
Tohmé’s contributions have been recognized by organizations including the Prince Claus Fund, cultural grants from the European Cultural Foundation, and accolades from regional arts councils. Her initiatives have been cited in international coverage by media such as Artforum, Frieze, and ArtAsiaPacific, and her curatorial projects have been featured in catalogues produced by institutions like Centre Pompidou and Haus der Kulturen der Welt.
Tohmé remains based in Beirut where she continues to direct Ashkal Alwan and convene the Home Works Forum and HWCA. Her legacy is visible in the careers of numerous artists, curators, and scholars across networks that include Beirut Art Center, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sursock Museum, and academic programs at American University of Beirut and Goldsmiths, University of London. Institutions such as Tate Modern, MoMA, and Documenta have incorporated practitioners shaped by her pedagogical and curatorial frameworks, ensuring her influence on contemporary art infrastructures regionally and internationally.
Category:Lebanese curators Category:1955 births Category:Living people