Passports Do Not Make People
Naeem Mohaiemen presents the talk “Passports Do Not Make People”, projected image features Amitava Kumar (author of ‘Passport Photos’), at the Image as Critique event organized by the Yale School of Art.
Photos by Christopher Desanges, Photography MFA ’25.
The Painting and Printmaking Department, in collaboration with the DEI Spotlight Series at the Yale School of Art, is pleased to present Image as Critique. This symposium brings together a distinguished panel of artists and thinkers—Karl Haendel (panelist), Latipa (panelist), Naeem Mohaiemen (panelist), Paul Pfeiffer (panelist and keynote speaker), and John Yau(moderator)—to explore and discuss the role of critique in contemporary art and life. The discussion will examine how a critical attitude challenges conventional ways of engaging with the world and reshapes established notions of power and identity. Additionally, the symposium will explore the formal relationship between critique and representation, focusing on how critique functions as both a speculative and precise tool in art making. Rather than offering narrow definitions, this gathering aims to uncover how critique propels us forward through various conceptual, material, and cultural modes of expression.
This event is sponsored by the Yale School of Art’s John and Kate Carrafiell Dean’s Resource Fund, The Poynter Fellowship in Journalism, the DEI Spotlight Series, Belonging at Yale, the Painting and Printmaking Program, and the School of Architecture.
The Yale School of Art's DEI Spotlight series brings together world renowned, courageous artists, with academic arts communities to showcase their commitment to diverse matters that impact our world.
Location
School of Architecture, Hastings Hall
190 York St.
Loria Center
About the Speaker
Naeem Mohaiemen was born in London in 1969, and grew up in Tripoli, Libya, and Dhaka, Bangladesh. He combines photography, films, archives, and essays to research the many forms of utopia-dystopia (families, borders, architecture, and uprisings). He holds a PhD in anthropology from Columbia University, where he is Associate Professor of Visual Arts. Mohaiemen’s work is in the permanent collections of MoMA, Tate Modern, MACBA, Van Abbemuseum, Art Institute of Chicago, Sharjah Art Foundation, Singapore Art Museum, and Kiran Nadar Museum.
