EcoRove

EcoRove (Iyad Abou Gaida & Em Joseph) is a collaborative, multimedia, research project and co-collaborative production studio examining the politics of critical zones and the livelihood of humans and non-human species who dwell in them. Our mission is to empower individuals and organizations to share knowledge, data, and narratives that re-contextualize eco-socio-political dynamics through a broad spectrum of documentary, scientific, and technological approaches. In 2020, EcoRove was awarded the Arab Fund for Art & Culture Fine Arts Grant for their project Cedar Exodus, which was exhibited at The New Museum in 2023 - 2024. They have been published in “Pre-Occupied Thoughts” (Al-Rawiya, 2024), and participated in WORLDING 2025 at MIT.

Iyad Abou Gaida is a Lebanese farmer, ecological architect, artist, and researcher whose work explores the interwoven ecologies of human and non-human beings. Through his research and practice, he engages with aesthetic, socio-political, and ecological urgencies in built and natural environments, spanning multiple dimensions and geographies. Rooted in his family's ancestral olive groves in Hasbaya, South Lebanon, Iyad gained farming knowledge by tending to terraced landscapes shaped over generations. He is the co-founder of Taïm Olive, a producer of extra virgin olive oil that honors traditional farming practices and the resilience of the land. His work has been showcased at the New Museum and Tallinn Architecture Biennial (TAB).

Em Joseph is a Lebanese-American artist, filmmaker, and educator based in Lenapehoking whose work uses various documentary forms to explore overlapping stories of war, diaspora, and indigenous sovereignty. Her work (re)contextualizes multifaceted attachments between societies and ecosystems. Joseph received an MFA from Columbia University (2016), and a BA from Vassar College (2011). She is part-time faculty at The New School, and was previously adjunct assistant professor of photography at Columbia University.