Polycephaly is a research collective and project by Lynn Kodeih and Rachel Dedman.
Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Polycephaly aims is to engage with contemporary artistic practice in its socio-political context, and initiate expansive conversations around research questions that are urgent for artists, curators and writers today. The idea of polycephaly, or manyheadedness, allows for cross-disciplinary engagement, collaboration and disagreement.
Polycephaly is the receipient of a Research, Training and Regional Events Grant from the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture. This initial platform is the result of AFAC's support and funding.
Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Polycephaly aims is to engage with contemporary artistic practice in its socio-political context, and initiate expansive conversations around research questions that are urgent for artists, curators and writers today. The idea of polycephaly, or manyheadedness, allows for cross-disciplinary engagement, collaboration and disagreement.
Polycephaly is the receipient of a Research, Training and Regional Events Grant from the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture. This initial platform is the result of AFAC's support and funding.
Rachel Dedman (b.1989, London) is a curator and writer based in London. She is currently Jameel Curator of Contemporary Art from the Middle East at the V&A, London.
Recent projects include At the still point of the turning world, there is the dance, for Ashkal Alwan’s Home Works Forum 8 at Sursock Museum, (Beirut, 2019); Shorthand: Nadim Karam, notes from the archive, A.MUSE.UM, Lebanon, 2019; A Thousand Hands: Legacies and Futures of Care in Brent, Kiln Theatre, (London, 2018); and Labour of Love, Palestinian Museum (Ramallah, 2018). In 2021 she is curating Material Power for Kettle’s Yard (Cambridge) and the Whitworth Gallery (Manchester), and Jameel Prize 6 for the V&A.
Rachel is one third of Radio Earth Hold, a research collective making and commissioning broadcasts. She is published extensively in contemporary arts contexts, and is currently a Forum Fellow at Art Dubai. Rachel studied history of art at St John’s College, Oxford, and Harvard University, specialising in art from the Middle East. She studied History of Art at the University of Oxford and Harvard University, where she was the Von Clemm Postgraduate Fellow, specialised in art from the Middle-East. In 2013/14 she was a participant of Ashkal Alwan's Home Workspace Program, Beirut.
racheldedman.com
Recent projects include At the still point of the turning world, there is the dance, for Ashkal Alwan’s Home Works Forum 8 at Sursock Museum, (Beirut, 2019); Shorthand: Nadim Karam, notes from the archive, A.MUSE.UM, Lebanon, 2019; A Thousand Hands: Legacies and Futures of Care in Brent, Kiln Theatre, (London, 2018); and Labour of Love, Palestinian Museum (Ramallah, 2018). In 2021 she is curating Material Power for Kettle’s Yard (Cambridge) and the Whitworth Gallery (Manchester), and Jameel Prize 6 for the V&A.
Rachel is one third of Radio Earth Hold, a research collective making and commissioning broadcasts. She is published extensively in contemporary arts contexts, and is currently a Forum Fellow at Art Dubai. Rachel studied history of art at St John’s College, Oxford, and Harvard University, specialising in art from the Middle East. She studied History of Art at the University of Oxford and Harvard University, where she was the Von Clemm Postgraduate Fellow, specialised in art from the Middle-East. In 2013/14 she was a participant of Ashkal Alwan's Home Workspace Program, Beirut.
racheldedman.com
Lynn Kodeih (b. 1982, Lebanon) works primarily with video, text and performance. Her practice is research-based, and she collects and manipulates traces and images. Often merging science and fiction, poetry, and past and present mythologies, her work underpins and subverts notions such as frontiers, nation-states and belonging.
She was a fellow artist at Ashkal Alwan Homework Space Program in 2016. Her work has been shown at Homeworks 7, Ashkal Alwan-HWP, Beirut Art Center and 98weeks in Beirut; deegar art platform/Rybon Art Center, Tehran; Mediterranea 18 Young Artist Biennial, Tirana; Transart Triennale, Berlin; Digital Marrakech, Morocco; Rotterdam Film Festival, Rotterdam; Museum as a Hub - The New Museum, New York; Makan House of Arts, Amman; Kunstbanken Performance Festival, Hamar-Norway.
lynnkodeih.com
She was a fellow artist at Ashkal Alwan Homework Space Program in 2016. Her work has been shown at Homeworks 7, Ashkal Alwan-HWP, Beirut Art Center and 98weeks in Beirut; deegar art platform/Rybon Art Center, Tehran; Mediterranea 18 Young Artist Biennial, Tirana; Transart Triennale, Berlin; Digital Marrakech, Morocco; Rotterdam Film Festival, Rotterdam; Museum as a Hub - The New Museum, New York; Makan House of Arts, Amman; Kunstbanken Performance Festival, Hamar-Norway.
lynnkodeih.com