George Bajalia

A. George Bajalia began collaborating with Qanat in 2018, where he introduced an anthropological perspective on infrastructural breakdowns, particularly that of water and border systems between Morocco and Spain, and their role in the production of social and cultural life in moments otherwise considered as empty or aberrant from the normal operations of infrastructural flow. His dissertation work (Ph.D. Candidate, Anthropology, Columbia University) treats these concepts more broadly in order to explore the languages, labors, and infrastructures of waiting at borders in the Strait of Gibraltar region. With Qanat he co-wrote “L’arte di fare buchi nell’acqua’,” or “On the Art of Digging Holes in Water” for Le 18’s Chergui #2 with Francesca Masoero, and presented “Time for a Breakdown: Reimagining Social Flows in the Not-Yet” at BAK-Utrecht. Outside of this, he is also the co-founder and co-director of the annual “Youmein Festival” in Tangier, and the “NU-Q Creative Media Festival” in Doha, both of which imagine and invite the creation of new artistic and media work over the course of 48 hours, centered on a common theme (Crisis, Borders and Boundaries, Tradition v. Imitation, Rising up/Uprising, al-Barzakh, Desire). He also collaborates with the artistic and activist association Voie des Migrants in Tangier, is on the scientific committee of Think Tanger, and is a Fellow of the Tangier-American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies.