Art and Audience : On Museums, Social Media and Public Space

This talk examines how artworks operate across different contexts, from museums and galleries to public space and digital circulation. Drawing on over fifteen years of practice, artist Bahia Shehab reflects on how audience engagement shifts when art is encountered within institutional settings versus when it is publicly displayed and exposed to everyday life. Through examples from projects realized in cities such as New York, Istanbul, Marrakesh, and Hawaii, the talk considers how artworks travel, remain relevant across geographies, and are shaped by social media—particularly in regions where cultural infrastructure is limited. Speakers

• Bahia Shehab, Professor, Design; Director,TypeLab, AUC