Nouf Aljowaysir Uses AI to Reclaim Non-Western Histories
Nouf Aljowaysir, a Saudi artist who combines her knowledge in architecture and human-computer interaction, explores identity and belonging using AI and open-source tech. She started her artistic career in marketing, where she employed AI for branding and teamed up with Creep Collective on 'Alexa Call Mom!'. After completing a residency at Thoughtworks Arts, her art reflects her journey as an Arab living in the U.S. since age 13. In her 2020 work 'Salaf', she critiqued non-Western data by removing figures from the Getty Museum's collection, which led to her 2025 piece 'Ancestral Seeds' that highlights colonial poses. Her 2022 film 'Ana Min Wein? (Where Am I From?)' tackles algorithmic marginalization. Currently, her work is displayed with the CHANEL Culture Fund at Alserkal Avenue.
Key facts
- Nouf Aljowaysir studied architecture and human-computer interaction, then earned a master's in interactive telecommunications.
- She worked with Creep Collective on 'Alexa Call Mom!' using Amazon's Alexa.
- She completed a residency on synthetic media at Thoughtworks Arts.
- Aljowaysir scraped images from The Ken and Jenny Jacobson Orientalist Photography Collection at the Getty Museum for 'Salaf' (2020).
- 'Ancestral Seeds' (2025) is a morphing video showing colonial poses relearned by AI.
- Her film 'Ana Min Wein? (Where Am I From?)' (2022) features a machine failing to identify her origin.
- She references Edward Said's concept of the 'white' and the 'other'.
- Her video 'Ancestral Seeds' is showing with the CHANEL Culture Fund at Alserkal Avenue.
Entities
Artists
- Nouf Aljowaysir
- Edward Said
Institutions
- Creep Collective
- Thoughtworks Arts
- Getty Museum
- CHANEL Culture Fund
- Alserkal Avenue
- Canvas
Locations
- New York City
- United States
- Saudi Arabia
- Iraq
- Syria
- Arab world