Nissrin Zaptia and Giovanna Dunmall

Changing Narratives - Creative Voices from the Global South

Society EN ↓ 6 episodes

Changing Narratives is a podcast featuring in depth conversations with artists, architects, designers, and cultural practitioners shaping contemporary culture across the Global South. Hosted by Nissrin Zaptia and Giovanna Dunmall, the podcast explores the ideas, experiences, and places that inform their work. Each episode offers thoughtful, personal conversations that move beyond headlines and dominant narratives, creating space for voices and perspectives rarely represented in mainstream cultural media.

Author

Nissrin Zaptia and Giovanna Dunmall

Episodes

Curator Rana Beiruti on Jordan's design scene and the diverse landscape of Arab design 31.03.2026 42:45

Rana Beiruti is an Amman-based curator working across art, architecture and design. She co-founded Amman Design Week in 2016, directed it for three editions, and in 2024 curated Arab Design Now, the headline exhibition of the inaugural Design Doha Biennial, surveying more than 70 designers from across the Arab world. This conversation covers Jordan's design scene and why its so-called resource sca...

Spandana Gopal on Indian Design Beyond the Stereotypes 17.03.2026 34:28

In this episode we speak to Spandana Gopal, a designer based between Bangalore and London, whose studio Tiipoi sets out to challenge Western perceptions of Indian design. Spandana talks about moving beyond the kitsch stereotypes of embellishment, bright colours, and romanticised narratives to make the case for India's everyday utilitarian design and innovation. From working with Longpi potters in...

Artist Noor Abuarafeh on Archives, Power and Who Decides What is Remembered 03.03.2026 42:37

In today’s new episode of Changing Narratives , we speak with Palestinian visual artist Noor Abuarafeh, whose work addresses memory, history and the archive. Noor talks to us about how she traces absences and questions the complexity of history including how it is shaped, constructed, made, and understood. We delve into several of her works, focusing in particular on ‘ Observational Desire on a...

Visual Artist Priscila Barbosa on Feminism, Muralism in São Paulo, Latin American Identity, and Reclaiming the Female Body 17.02.2026 40:49

Priscila Barbosa, visual artist, muralist and illustrator from São Paulo, discusses using public art to reclaim the image of women as agents of resistance rather than objects of spectacle. We talk about growing up in the east zone of São Paulo, discovering feminism through Latin American thinkers such as Verónica Gago, and challenging the stereotypes imposed on Brazilian women both at home and abr...

Photographer Mohamed Somji on Representation, Community and Visual Practice in MENASA 03.02.2026 47:23

Mohamed Somji, Director of Gulf Photo Plus in Dubai, reflects on building one of the UAE’s leading platforms for photography and visual culture. He discusses the early days of Gulf Photo Plus, the structural gaps it responded to in the MENASA region, and how questions of representation continue to shape how the Middle East is seen. We talk about Slidefest, the exhibition A Memorial in Fragments cr...

Trailer 30.01.2026 1:44

Changing Narratives is hosted by Nissrin Zaptia and Giovanna Dunmall. Each episode features architects, artists and designers working across the Global South and its diaspora, examining how cities are shaped, how culture circulates, and who controls representation. From the UAE to Palestine, from India to Jordan and Tunisia, and from Brazil in South America, we focus on the systems that frame crea...