Nihal El Aasar Live

A special live set by writer, researcher and DJ, Nihal El Aasar.

Chisenhale Gallery presents the first event in a special three-part series curated by writer, researcher, and DJ Nihal El Asssar, developed on the occasion of Arash Nassiri’s exhibition A Bug’s Life. Moving across sound, listening, and voice, the series extends Nassiri’s exploration of narrative, memory, and space into live, collective experience.

This opening event is a live sonic set foregrounding El Asssar’s own practice, drawing from her distinctive archive of music, field recordings, and found audio. As sound unfolds across the gallery, it will move between geographies and temporalities, weaving a rich tapestry that resonates with personal and collective memory, displacement, and imagination. El Aasar invites audiences into a state of deep listening, gently shifting rhythms and textures to create an immersive space for reflection.

This event introduces a programme that continues across two further evenings: an intimate listening group co-facilitated by El Aasar and London-based artist and filmmaker Juline Hadaya; followed by a finissage of readings and performances featuring contributions from El Assar, Sara El Adl, Zein Majali, Bint Mbareh and Alex Quicho.

Biography

Nihal El Aasar is an Egyptian independent writer, researcher, political analyst, radio host and DJ. She has written about politics, political economy, culture, literature and music in several publications including Verso, Jacobin, Parapraxis, Art Review, Mundial, The Wire, Protean, Novara Media, Africa is a Country, GQ and others, as well as authoring a book chapter about Egyptian political economy and consulting on related issues. She has also been interviewed about her writing and analysis on several platforms. Since 2022, she has been a regular host at NTS radio based in London, where she hosts her monthly show Nile to Bank, highlighting alternative and left-field music from the Arab region as well as hosting music practitioners from the region to highlight the natural overlap and crossovers of musical influences in the Middle East.

Access

This event will be taking place at Chisenhale Gallery. Chisenhale Gallery has flat access with an all-genders, fully accessible toilet. This event will be seated. Earplugs and ear guards are available for visitors to use. This event will be documented for marketing and archival purposes.

We are committed to ensuring our events are accessible for all. Please contact mail@chisenhale.org.uk to discuss your access needs. We will endeavour to meet all requests where possible. Please be advised that requests should be made two weeks in advance of the event.

Image: Arash Nassiri, A Bug’s Life, 2026. Still. Co-commissioned by Chisenhale Gallery, London; Fluentum, Berlin; and Fondation Pernod Ricard, Paris. Produced by Chisenhale Gallery. Courtesy of the artist.