TEDxHayward - VJ Um Amel - (Re)encoding the Revolution August 31, 2011

Favorite:

VJ Um Amel is a media artist whose practices include ambient visual projection, live cinema performance, game design, database design, and innovative research. In her live VJ performances, she explores the implications of juxtaposing the identity of "mother" and a techno-feminist construct of "cyborg" within local and transnational expressions of "Arab." Her research methods uncover patterns of recursive action in nature where meaning emerges from the real-time media mixing. Her current projects include R-Shief, an Arabic-English online resource of resources by researchers on the Middle East that aggregates, slices, then problematizes its data through information visualizations. She is one the leading As a poet, she has co-founded spoken word and hip-hop collectives in Washington, D.C. In 2009, she was awarded the Jack Shaheen Media Scholarship by the American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee (ADC). VJ Um Amel's work has been exhibited and performed in international festivals, galleries, and museums. She holds an M.A. in Arab Studies from Georgetown University and an M.F.A. in Digital Arts and New Media from University of California, Santa Cruz. For 2010-2011, she has been nominated as a Macarthur Foundation HASTAC scholar. Currently, she is pursuing a Ph.D. in Cinematic Arts (Media Arts and Practice) at the University of Southern California where she was awarded an Annenberg Fellowship. Recently, her her research on a semantic web analytics of the 2011 Arab revolutions and her remixing style have gained a lot of attention.

About TEDx, x = independently organized event

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)