AWL

AWL presents a solo project by Youssef Taki, exploring how memory, language, and visual systems carry traces of absence, displacement, and resistance. His practice investigates how personal, collective, and cultural histories are recorded, interpreted, and often rendered invisible, revealing the mechanisms through which power, identity, and social hierarchies are inscribed.  Taki’s External Memories is a relational art and research project that reconstructs migrants’ digital memories—often lost, forgotten, or rendered inaccessible. Through the collection, restoration, and repurposing of old hard drives and external storage devices, Taki collaborates directly with migrant families, inviting them to contribute photographs and documents to a growing archive. These materials are transformed into lightboxes, forming a living archive that gives visibility to marginalized migration narratives.  Drawing on his own experience as the child of immigrants, Taki’s practice reflects on memory, technological mediation, and the often-invisible traces of migratory life. By foregrounding absence and recovery, the project questions how histories are preserved, who has access to them, and how digital infrastructures shape remembrance.  This presentation uncovers traces preserved within archives—both personal and technological—revealing how identities and lived experiences persist and take form over time. Through its focus on absence and presence, the exhibition invites reflection on the enduring imprint of memory and its role in shaping our understanding of identity, belonging, and cultural inheritance.

Founded in 2024, AWL is headquartered in Girona, with an expanding presence in Al Ain and Los Angeles. The gallery represents emerging and established voices whose transdisciplinary practices explore socio-cultural dynamics, the human experience, and the complexities of diaspora. AWL places strong emphasis on discourse that challenges conceptual boundaries while fostering cross-cultural dialogue across diverse artistic traditions and audiences. With a curatorial approach rooted in social awareness, AWL engages with the global art community through transnational collaboration and experimental initiatives.

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