This first event of the Space in Your Living Room! - Arts and Space Collide, it presents an  informal conversation between Faris and Ganzeer on the overlapping power of arts and space exploration. It will explore how these human endeavours can help us question our place in the universe, our responsibility to Earth and its citizens, and how these topics can inspire children to question and explore.

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About the Speakers

Muhammed Ahmed Fares

Born in Aleppo, Syria, Muhammed Ahmed Fares is the first Syrian and second Muslim cosmonaut to ever go to space. On 22 July 2020, we celebrate exactly 33 years of his space flight. He is credited with carrying the first recorded Earth dirt into space, which was a vial carrying soil from Damascus. Fares was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union 30 July 1987; he was also awarded the Order of Lenin. After his spaceflight, Fares returned to the Syrian Air Force and lived in Aleppo. Until he had to flee the country as many other Syrians due to Assad’s regime. Today he lives in Turkey. 

 

Ganzeer

Ganzeer’s artistic practice operates seamlessly between art, design, and storytelling. He has had the opportunity to exhibit his work in a wide variety of art galleries, impromptu spaces, alleyways, and major museums around the world, including the Brooklyn Museum in New York, The Palace of the Arts in Cairo, Greek State Museum in Thessaloniki, the V&A in London, and the Edith Russ Haus in Oldenburg. His interests include social justice, science fiction, and comics. Born in Egypt, he is now based in the United States.

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Ghina M. Halabi

Ghina is an astrophysicist born in a small village tucked among the thousand-year-old cedars of Mount Lebanon. A curious child, a toy’s motor and battery were her objects of fascination. As a school kid, she installed a light system in her dark blue bag to make it easier to find her books. She found physics challenging so it lured her into it as a major in college, and later as a Masters degree. She then did her PhD in Astrophysics, during which she studied the structure and evolution of stars. She is a public speaker at international conferences and global forums including TEDx, and the UN. She was featured as "Modern Muse for Astronomy" by the cultural magazine Postscript.