The title of the exhibition is in reference to Edward Said’s book After the Last Sky, 1986 which is borrowed from the line “Where should we go after the last frontiers? Where should the birds fly after the last sky?” by Mahmoud Darwish from his poem The earth is closing on us, 1984. Layal Ftouni will lead the discussion around a selected chapter from the book After the Last Sky. This event is in English. Everyone is welcome to participate, make sure to register via: reservations [​at​] deappel.nl. After registration, you will be further informed via mail.

Layal Ftouni is an Assistant Professor of Gender Studies and Critical Theory at the Graduate Gender Programme. Her teaching is transdisciplinary, crossing fields of gender and sexuality studies, cultural studies, political theory, visual studies and critical race studies. Layal is currently working on a new research project (2021-2025) funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) tentatively entitled Ecologies of Violence: Affirmations of Life at the Frontiers of Survival. The research explores the politics of life and living at the boundaries with death (both human and environmental) in conditions of war and settler colonialism, focusing on Syria and Palestine. She is also currently working on a journal issue entitled Radical Kinship: Solidarity and Ethico-Political Belonging for Darkmatter journal. Before joining Utrecht University in Sept 2016, she lectured (2013 - 2016) as a senior teaching fellow at the Centre for Media and Cultural Studies at SOAS, University of London and completed her PhD at the University of Westminster.