Nadia Christidi
Nadia Christidi is a PhD candidate in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology, and Society at MIT and an arts practitioner. Nadia’s research explores how the future of water is being imagined and prepared for in cities facing water supply challenges which are intensifying with climate change; she focuses on Los Angeles, Dubai and Cape Town. Nadia is committed to working at the intersection of art, science, and policy and producing public programming around her research. Her work and programs have been presented at Beirut Art Center, SALT Galata, SALT Ulus, Kunsthaus Hamburg, Jameel Arts Centre, the Al Sidr Environmental Film Festival, and Ocean Space in Venice. She is a Doctoral Fellow with the Governing Through Design research cluster funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, where she works on the project Against Catastrophe. Nadia was previously a TBA-21 Academy Ocean Fellow, a Rasikbhai L. Meswani Fellow for Water Solutions at MIT’s Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab, an Art Jameel Arts Research and Writing Resident, and a Delfina-FICA Research Fellow. She was also Assistant Director of Beirut Art Center (2009-2010) and Interpretation and Learning Lead at Darat Al Funun in Amman (2006-2008), and worked as an independent cultural organizer for many years. Nadia holds an MA in Historical Studies from the New School for Social Research and BA in History of Art from Bryn Mawr College. Her multimodal text contributions have been published by Arte East, Ashkal Alwan, Pfeil Magazine, and Art Jameel (forthcoming), among others, and her research has been featured on Jadaliyya’s Environment in Context and TBA-21 Academy’s Aridity Lines podcasts.
- Dissertation: Cities and the Future of Water: Dubai, Los Angeles, and Cape Town.
- Against Catastrophe, an edited volume, website, and design commissions project developed by Governing through Design and funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation
- From Tankers to Genes: Visions of Aqueous Futures in the UAE, a web publication commissioned by the Jameel Arts Centre.
- “Beyond a Green UAE: Re-envisioning Land, Knowledge, and Labor in Art” in Everyday Design-MakerX: From the Margins to the Center, ed. Clapperton Chakanetsa Mahvunga. Forthcoming.
| Since 2021 |
Doctoral Fellow with Governing Through Design, Concordia University, Montreal |
| Since 2015 | PhD in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology, and Society at MIT, Cambridge, MA |
| 2015 |
Masters of Arts in Historical Studies, New School for Social Research, New York, NY |
| 2006 | Bachelor of Arts in History of Art, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA |
- Environmental anthropology
- Sustainability studies
- Political economy
- Urban studies
- Critical infrastructure studies
- Science and technology studies
Christidi, Nadia (text) and Moussa, Sary (music). “The Topology of a Wave: On Body Doubles and Limited Utopias.” Perpetual Postponement, eds. Christine Tohme and Edwin Nasr, Ashkal Alwan, 24 August 2022. https://perpetualpostponement.org/the-topology-of-a-wave-on-body-doubles-and-limited-utopias/.
Christidi, Nadia (text and photographs). “Glass in Lebanon: A Natural and Post-Natural History.” Pfeil Magazine 14 – Nature, ed. Anja Dietmann, Montez Press, 2021.
Christidi, Nadia. “@Coronarratives.” And We Came Outside and Saw the Stars, ed. Ilan Stavans, Restless Books, 2020, pp. 124-133.
Christidi, Nadia. “Decaying Flesh (#1623).” ArtEaste Quarterly (Special issue on political ecology and climate change), ed. Nora Razian, Spring 2017. http://arteeast.org/quarterly/decaying-flesh-1623/.
Christidi, Nadia et. al. “A Conceptual Glossary: Interrogating the Question of ‘Whose? Anthropocene’ and its Implications.” Anthropocene Curriculum: The Technosphere Issue, Haus der Kulturen der Welt and Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, 23 April 2016. https://www.anthropocene-curriculum.org/contribution/a-conceptual-glossary.
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10/2021 |
Workshop Co-Organizer (with Carlo Federico Dall’Omo), ‘Water as a Boundary Object’: Navigating the Shared Waters of Sacca Fisola and Sacca San Biaggio in the Venetian Lagoon, Pro Helvetia, Venice |
| 10/2021 | Panel Organizer, Records of Changing Times, Ocean Space, Venice |
| 9/2021 | Workshop Organizer, Vernacular Architectures, Water Politics, and Climate Change in Palermo, Istituto Svizzero, Palermo |
| 4/2021 | Presenter, The Future as an Index/Indexing the Future: Storage, Value, and Water Management in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles (Virtual) |
| 2/2020 | Event Organizer and Moderator, Public Conversation with the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, Residency Event, Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai |
| 2/2020 | Co-Chair (with Nezar Andary), “Environmental Humanities Roundtable,” Al Sidr Environmental Film Festival, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi |
| 12/2019 | Event Organizer, Watertight: A Guided Tour of Jebel Ali Village, Residency Event, Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai |
| 10/2019 | Presenter, Animal/Vegetable/Mineral: Symbiotic Life in a Parasitic World, Campus Art Dubai 8.0, Dubai |
| 10/2019 |
Co-Organizer, “The Future of Water in the UAE,” Informal Water Discussion Circle (in partnership with Sustainable Water Network), Dubai |
| 10/2019 |
Presenter, Research and Development Center, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, Dubai |
| 9/2019 | Event Organizer, Meet the Resident (display and presentation), Residency Event, Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai |
| 8/2018 | Workshop Organizer, “Bird Song in the Bijlmermeer: The Poetry and Politics of Intimate Transhuman Entanglements” (with support from Het Nieuwe Instituut and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands), Open Set Summer School - Fluid Rhythms, Amsterdam |
| 2021-2024 | Doctoral Fellowship, Governing through Design, Swiss National Science Foundation |
| 2022 | Arts Residency, “Water is What We Make It,” Gemene Grond, Utrecht |
| 2021 | Ocean Fellowship, Thyssen Bornemisza Art 21-Academy, Ocean Space, Venice |
| 2020-2021 | Rasikbhai L. Meswani Fellowship for Water Solutions, Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS), MIT |
| 2020 | Center for International Studies Fellowship, MIT |
| 2019 | Arts Research and Writing Residency, Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai |
| 2015-2016 | Ida M. Green Fellowship, Office of Graduate Education, MIT |
| 2015 | Outstanding Achievement at the MA Level, New School for Social Research |
| 2012 | Research Fellowship, Supported by the Delfina Foundation and Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art, Delfina Foundation, London |
| Spring 2021 | Teaching Fellow, Technology and Culture, STS Department, MIT |
| Spring 2018 | Teaching Fellow, The Meaning of Life, Anthropology Department, MIT |
| Spring 2017 | Teaching Fellow, US History Since 1865, History Department, MIT |
| Fall 2014 | Teaching Fellow, Introduction to Design Studies, The New School/Parsons School of Design |
| 2013 | Assistant Producer, Home Works 6 Exhibition, Ashkal Alwan, Beirut |
| 2013 | Artist’s Assistant on Under-Writing Beirut, Lamia Joreige, Beirut |
| 2012 | Publications Coordinator, How Soon is Now: A Tribute to Dreamers, Ashkal Alwan, Beirut |
| 2011 | Beirut Festival Coordinator, Meeting Points 6 (curated by Okwui Enwezor), Young Arab Theatre Fund, Beirut |
| 2009-2010 | Assistant Director, Beirut Art Center, Beirut |
| 2006-2008 | Interpretation and Learning Lead, Darat al Funun, Amman |