Relay

Clavis Aurea

Relay, hosted by Raja Aderdor, is a podcast built around conversations with the people who shape publishing, art, and culture. In each episode, publishers, photographers, designers, artists, writers, and curators come together to reflect on their work, their creative processes, and the ideas that eventually take form in books, exhibitions, and printed matter. We are Clavis Aurea: a dynamic team of publishing professionals working on innovative marketing and communication in the industry. Based in Leiden, we eat, sleep, and breathe publishing.

Episodes

  1. 1D AGO

    Curating Tasmeem Doha 2026: Transmit – Knowledge Commons, and Curatorial Practice with Hind Al Saad, Reham Mohamed & Sara Al-Afifi, VCUarts Qatar

    Host Raja Aderdor speaks with Hind Al Saad, Reham Mohamed, and Sara Al-Afifi in a conversation that explores the curatorial process behind Tasmeem Doha 2026: Transmit.  Together, they reflect on how concepts such as transmission and knowledge commons are translated into an exhibition framework, and what it means to curate within a space shaped by collaboration and shared authorship. Tasmeem Doha is a biennial organized by VCUarts Qatar and brings together designers, artists, scholars, and cultural practitioners to explore critical questions in design and visual culture across the region and beyond. The discussion moves across questions of curatorial practice, examining the role of the curator as both facilitator and mediator. It explores how ideas are developed, negotiated, and shaped across contributors, and how curatorial decision-making operates as an evolving process, responsive to context, dialogue, and the shifting nature of knowledge production. The conversation also situates Tasmeem Doha within a broader design and cultural landscape, considering how biennials and design platforms can act as spaces for exchange, experimentation, and collective thinking. It reflects on how transmission operates not only as a theme, but as a method, connecting people, practices, and forms of knowledge across disciplines and geographies. This episode is in collaboration with Tasmeem Doha 2026: Transmit. Relay, a podcast from Clavis Aurea Podcasts, explores the people and processes behind publishing, art, and cultural production. Through conversations with people working across the cultural sector, the podcast looks at how ideas move from concept to physical form through books, exhibitions, and printed production. At its core, Relay focuses on the creative chain behind cultural work. Writers, editors, designers, photographers, publishers, printers, and institutions each play a role in bringing ideas into the world. Interested in collaborating or being part of the podcast? Reach out through the Clavis Aurea social media channels or contact the team directly.

    13 min
  2. APR 2

    Institutional Leadership, Political Art, and Museum Futures with Sebastian Baden, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Germany

    Host Raja Aderdor speaks with Sebastian Baden, director of Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, in a conversation that explores the evolving role of cultural institutions today. Together, they reflect on how museums are rethinking their position in a rapidly shifting cultural and political landscape, and what it means to remain relevant, responsive, and critically engaged. The discussion moves across questions of institutional transformation, examining how exhibitions can act as spaces for dialogue, confrontation, and reflection. It considers the role of political art within museum contexts, the responsibility of cultural institutions in addressing global challenges, and how sustainability is approached not only environmentally, but also socially and structurally within programming and curatorial practice.  The conversation also situates these questions within a broader geographic lens, reflecting on how European institutions are engaging with and building bridges toward the Global South. It explores how collaboration, exchange, and dialogue across regions can move beyond representation toward more sustained and reciprocal cultural relationships. The Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt is one of Europe’s leading venues for modern and contemporary art, the SCHIRN presents large-scale exhibitions, interdisciplinary programs, and public discourse that engage with both art history and current societal questions. Relay, a podcast from Clavis Aurea Podcasts, explores the people and processes behind publishing, art, and cultural production. Through conversations with people working across the cultural sector, the podcast looks at how ideas move from concept to physical form through books, exhibitions, and printed production. At its core, Relay focuses on the creative chain behind cultural work. Writers, editors, designers, photographers, publishers, printers, and institutions each play a role in bringing ideas into the world. Interested in collaborating or being part of the podcast? Reach out through the Clavis Aurea social media channels or contact the team directly.

    30 min

About

Relay, hosted by Raja Aderdor, is a podcast built around conversations with the people who shape publishing, art, and culture. In each episode, publishers, photographers, designers, artists, writers, and curators come together to reflect on their work, their creative processes, and the ideas that eventually take form in books, exhibitions, and printed matter. We are Clavis Aurea: a dynamic team of publishing professionals working on innovative marketing and communication in the industry. Based in Leiden, we eat, sleep, and breathe publishing.