WANWAWAL was founded in 2019 by artist and archivist Êvar Hussayni to reject the colonial methodologies often embedded in how archives are formed and accessed, by building a publicly accessible library and archive that innovatively catalogues and preserves the creative contributions by practitioners from West Asia and North Africa (WANA).

Embracing the liberatory power that can be found in collective memory-making and sharing outside of colonial practices, the curators have invited artistic interventions from seven contemporary WANA practitioners, including two new commissions. Interspersed throughout the exhibition these works provide a mutual lens to the archive, each contextualising and informing the other.

Antonia Shaw, Head of Programmes, Forma:

"Forma is grateful to collaborate with Êvar Hussayni and Sarah Hamed on the presentation of don’t worry i won’t forget you, following WANAWAL’s five-month residency at FormaHQ. The exhibition, which is dedicated to amplifying and documenting the work of WANA artists, spans our entire building - embedding in our presentation and residency spaces, intervening in Presse Books and presenting performance in our rooftop garden. Forma champions work that is vital, empowering practitioners to realise career-defining and experimental projects that address today’s pressing issues and use care as an approach. don’t worry i won’t forget you is a crucial counter to the colonial legacies that shape our cultural landscape. In asking us to reconsider whose narratives we preserve and urging us to record erased histories, don’t worry i won’t forget you is a critical practice of collective and continual remembering."

An exhibition guide also accompanies the programme, which includes texts by the curators and commissioned essays by Nada Atieg, Rojda Yavuz
and Florenza Deniz Incirli and can be read in full here.