MKMAEL is the title of an ongoing process-oriented art project, the stage for which is the World Wide Web. MKMAEL project is a discursive attempt at exploring the psychological and sociopolitical aspects of sexual identity construction and reconstruction in online chatrooms, where MKAMEL meets and constructs virtual same sex relations.

MKMAEL is presented as a series of ongoing mini-projects that will form a complete project when put together in a finale. The first in this series of mini-projects is MKMAEL STORIES. Copying the Abeer series, the local equivalent of Mills and Boon, MKMAEL STORIES use the electronic chat archive to create a frustrating recipe for a same-sex romance story written in the Middle-East in the digital age. The first book from the MKMAEL STORIES series is titled “An Image Passionate” it sets both the visual and conceptual tones for the titles to come.

Bio

Mahmoud Khalid was born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1982 where he lives and works. He received his BFA in painting from Alexandria University in 2004. He is the recipient of a number of residencies including the Sally and Don Lucas Artists Programs at Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, California and the artist's residency at the F+F School for Media Art and Design in Zurich, Switzerland. Khaled's approach is both process oriented and multidisciplinary, producing works in video, photography, text, and site specific installation. Most of his projects have, at their core, a thorough exploration of the document, in its many variations of the official, social, historical or personal. Khaled makes use of video stills, found objects, and various photographic resources, to test the boundaries between the personal, political, historical and social domains.

www.mahmoudkhaled.com