Nahum (born in 1979 in Mexico City, Mexico) is an artist, musician, multi-instrumentalist, performer and artistic director who lives and works in Berlin, Germany. His work combines outer space technologies, illusionism, and hypnosis to create alternative and extreme perspectives of human experience. He is also known under the names of Nahum Mantra and Nahum Romero Zamora.
Biography Nahum "is the new generation of young professional artists creating new imaginaries that will infect the ideas of tomorrow that will make the future of space possible and is part of a movement in countries outside the major space-faring nations that is taking ownership of the space futures". Nahum is the first artist to receive the Young Space Leader Award; for his contributions to astronautics and space exploration. Nahum is a fellow of the National System of Art Creators, National Endowment for Culture and Arts (FONCA) in Mexico and an associate artist at The Arts Catalyst, London. Nahum was the head curator of the Shunt Lounge in London. In 2015 he curated the Transitio_MX Biennial in Mexico City. He is the Founding Director of the KOSMICA Institute and chaired the Technical Activities Committee for the Cultural Use of Space (ITACCUS) at the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). Nahum has chaired the Committee on the Cultural Use of Space (ITACCUS) at the International Astronautical Federation based in Paris, France. This committee "seeks to promote and facilitate the innovative utilisation of space (data, systems, applications) by organisations in the cultural sectors of society internationally, including all areas of the arts and humanities, including the fine arts, entertainment, popular culture and tourism." In 2014 Nahum was the first artist to receive the Young Space Leader Award by the International Astronautical Federation for his artistic and cultural contributions to space exploration. This award recognises exceptional young professionals that have demonstrated leadership in their academic or early careers. He joined the jury in 2016 His work has been exhibited internationally in venues including: Bonniers Konsthall (Stockholm); Institute of Contemporary Arts (UK); KSEVT (Slovenia); Polytechnic Museum (Moscow); Southbank Centre (London); Rubin Center for the Visual Arts (El Paso, USA); National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (Taiwan); Laboratorio Arte Alameda, Mexico City (Mexico), Centro Nacional de las Artes (Mexico); Fonoteca Nacional de Mexico (Mexico).
Studies In 2016 he graduated from the International Space University (ISU), where he completed the Space Studies Program at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel. Here he participated in the research study entitled aMARTE which was commissioned by NASA. "aMARTE reviewed the most recent discoveries on the Martian environment and evaluated the different implications thereof for human Mars exploration." Since 2015 Nahum is a visiting lecturer at ISU. Nahum earned his Master in Arts at Goldsmiths College, University of London where he graduated with a distinction. During his studies in Goldsmiths, Nahum coursed the Music Pathway programme and joined the Goldsmiths Electronic Orchestra ensemble. He also studied a BS in Computer science at the Tecnologico de Monterrey in Mexico City.
Work "While Nahum's investigations actively engage with the cosmos, his work also suggests a more down-to-earth and self-conscious undertone to humanity's quest to conquer the unknown: understanding ourselves and where we come from." "Nahum's work is less about extraterrestrial miracles or smoke and mirrors than it is about inviting the audience to peek behind the curtain. It hinges on the validity of magical ideas and of human ability, rather than blind faith."
The Contour of Presence (2018) On 29 June 2018, Nahum launched with SpaceX an interactive artwork to the International Space Station. ¨The work is about the interconnectedness of all things, on a cosmic scale but also here on Earth; the interpretation of the unknown as part of what we don't see but what is inevitably part of the totality of our existence.¨ ¨This project is a collaboration between the International Space University, Space Applications Services and Nahum through a partnership with the European Space Agency.
Matters of Gravity (2015) Nahum directed the arts and science project Matters of Gravity (La Gravedad de los Asuntos in Spanish). This project reflects on gravity by its absence and it was executed in a Zero Gravity flight mission at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre. Two years of reflection and a few seconds in zero gravity were the origins of a series of artist works that have been completed in different gravity conditions such as 2Gs and weightlessness. The resulting artworks include video, performance, sculpture, drawing, and installation. The participating artists include: Tania Candiani, Ale de la Puente, Ivan Puig, Arcángelo Constantini, Fabiola Torres-Alzaga, Gilberto Esparza, Juan José Díaz Infante, Nahum and Marcela Armas. The project included the participation of Mexican scientist Miguel Alcubierre and curators Rob La Frenais and Kerry Anne Doyle. The Matters of Gravity exhibition has been touring internationally at museums that include: Laboratorio Arte Alameda in Mexico City (2015), Polytechnic Museum (VDNH), Moscow (2015), Kapelica Gallery, Ljublijana, and KSEVT, Vitanje, Slovenia (2015), Rubin Center of Visual Arts, University of Texas, El Paso (2015) and the Museu de Arte de Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico (2016).
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