Iman Djouini Appointed Assistant Teaching Professor in College of Creative Studies and UCSB Department of Art

Welcome New Faculty Iman Djouini

The UC Santa Barbara Department of Art and the College of Creative Studies (CCS) have appointed Iman Djouini as an Assistant Teaching Professor in Art. She will teach her first course in Winter of 2021. Djouini received a Master of Fine Arts in Printmaking from Tulane University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts Double major in Painting and Art History from The Maryland Institute College of Art. She comes to UCSB from Maryland where she developed a curriculum for image projection by integrating printmaking tools with digital fabrication as an artist in residence at the Open Works Digital Fabrication Studio.

“This fall we are excited to welcome Iman Djouini as our newest member to the UCSB and CCS art faculty cohort,” said Linda Ekstrom, faculty member in the CCS Book Arts Program. “Beginning winter quarter, Iman will offer courses in artists’ books and publications, and printmaking, in both CCS and the Department of Art. Her combined expertise in art and book arts, emerging technologies in art, and community interaction makes her especially valuable to the College. I look forward to working with her as we move forward in the coming year to further develop the growing CCS Book Arts program. The book arts students have expressed their excitement about meeting her this fall.”

[Iman's] combined expertise in art and book arts, emerging technologies in art, and community interaction makes her especially valuable to the College. I look forward to working with her as we move forward in the coming year to further develop the growing CCS Book Arts program. The book arts students have expressed their excitement about meeting her this fall. - Linda Ekstrom

Born in Algeria, Djouini is an interdisciplinary artist who works in a variety of media, primarily with print media, photography, animation, and site specific installation. Her practice is research-based and explores the convergence of art, culture, poetry, politics, and identity within the realm of new media. “As an artist, my work is rooted in a strong belief that art does not exist in isolation, but rather it is fundamentally interwoven and in constant dialogue with other fields of study and modes of inquiry,” said Djouini.

Djouini has received numerous awards and grants, including a Vermont Studio Center Artist Grant, a Distinguished Artist Grant for Printmaking at The League Residency in New York City, a fellowship in the Rare Books and Manuscripts collection at The Walters Art Museum, and, most recently, the Baltimore Promotion for the Arts Grant in Baltimore, Maryland.

Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally including at Parcours De L’art in Avignon, France; ArtLab Gallery in Tokyo, Japan; Feral Gallery in Mexico City, Mexico; MASS Gallery in Austin Texas; and The Transmodern Festival at The Peal Museum in Baltimore.

Recent works include such projects as Emptied Form, a research project she began in 2017 with Jonathan Taube to explore alternative uses of public spaces previously occupied by Confederate monuments. Djouini also worked with Taube on another project, Light Elephant, started in collaboration with the Baltimore city neighborhood association of The Coldstream Homestead Montebello community. The project featured a 16 foot white inflatable elephant that was installed and documented in various locations picked specifically by the Baltimore neighborhood association. Images of the elephant were then distributed through print and social media.

“This large multi-site project draws from the idiom ‘the elephant in the room’ and the implications of what this might be to people sharing a space. The art work does not direct to the viewer what ‘the elephant in the room is;’ rather it asks the viewer to consider themselves in the situational context and to identify that subject which is avoided,” explained Djouini. “This work was conceived in Baltimore as an initial stage for ‘the elephant in the room’ following the uprisings prompted by the death of Freddie Gray.”

In addition to her artwork, Djouini has extensive teaching and curatorial experience. She was appointed Visiting Assistant Professor of Printmaking and Visual Thinking at Goucher College and has taught at The Maryland Institute College of Art, and Morgan State University. Additionally, she was invited to lecture at several institutions, including the University of Maryland Baltimore County, the Maryland Institute College of Art, the Delgado Community College, and the Dillard University. Along with her teaching positions, she has worked as a curator at The Front Gallery in New Orleans and curated a variety of exhibitions, including Blue Arrowheads of the Barataria, Future Mythologies: Revisiting the American Dream, and This Shifting Vessel.

At UCSB, Djouini will split her time between CCS and the UCSB Department of Art. She will be an integral part of the CCS Book Arts program which offers an exploration of artists’ books and text based art where students learn how to sharpen their understanding of the tradition through research and print technologies. It is the only undergraduate program in book arts of its kind in the University of California system.

As an educator, I look for ways to push the boundaries of conventional art education and open my students up to a broader outlook within a global context. - Iman Djouini

“As an educator, I look for ways to push the boundaries of conventional art education and open my students up to a broader outlook within a global context,” said Djouini. “For these reasons, I am so excited and humbled to join CCS and bring my interdisciplinary focus to the College composed of so much talent and creativity.”

“We are excited for Iman to join our Art Faculty. Her mastery of art creation, research, and teaching will greatly benefit our students and grow our Book Arts program,” said CCS Dean Gerardo Aldana. “Please join me in welcoming Iman to CCS and UCSB.”