Mayssa Kanaan is a researcher, designer and cultural consultant based between Beirut and Dubai. Her research and practice weaves forgotten histories, people and crafts, exploring connections with storytellers, lands, and human bodies. She sometimes sketches, experiments with clay and plaster, sources natural materials from forests, and most recently, weaves tapestries.

Mayssa graduated from the  American University of Beirut with a bachelor’s in Landscape Architecture, worked at a Najla El Zein’s design studio, and pursued an MA in Contemporary Art Practice to deepen her understanding in public sphere practices and theory at the Royal College of Art in London.  Her distinction-awarded thesis, ‘Notes on Activating an Archive’ analyzed archival practices in the SWANA region and received a Mophradat Grants for Artists to develop a digital archive of collected objects, titled The Common Library

Here is a compilation of works that have been produced since her time at AUB, until now, exploring the arts in all its forms, from research to material exploration.