© Abraaj Capital Art Prize. All rights reserved.
Recipients
2012
Taysir Batniji
Born in Gaza in 1966, Taysir Batniji studied art at Al-Najah University in Nablus on the West Bank from 1985-92. In 1994 he was awarded a fellowship to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Bourges, France, where in 1997 he graduated with a DNSEP (Higher National Diploma in Plastic Expression). Since then he has divided his time between France and Palestine, developing an interdisciplinary practice including drawing, painting, installation and performance often closely related to his heritage. Since 2001 Batniji has focused on photography and video. He has participated in numerous international exhibitions in Europe and beyond, in 2011: ‘Untitled (12th Istanbul Biennial)’, Istanbul, Turkey; ‘Future of a Promise’, collateral event of the 54th Venice Biennale, Italy; ‘Seeing is Believing’, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany and ‘Le monde n’est pas arrive’, Galerie Eric Dupont, Paris, France. Previous exhibitions have included: ‘This is Not Cinema!’, Fresnoy, France (2002), ‘Contemporary Arab Representations’, the 50th Venice Biennale, Italy (2003), ‘Transit’, Witte de With, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (2004), ‘The World is a safer place’, Globe Gallery, Newcastle, UK (2005), ‘Wanderland’, Kunstmuseen, Krefeld, Germany (2006), ‘Heterotopias’, Thessaloniki Biennial, Greece and Sharjah Biennial, UAE (both 2007). During the 52nd Venice Biennale Batniji was part of ‘Palestine c/o Venice’ (2009) and the following year ‘La Biennale Cuvee’, Linz, Austria (2010). Taysir Batniji is represented by Galerie Sfeir-Semler, Hamburg/Beirut and Galerie Eric Dupont, Paris. He lives between Paris and Gaza.
Short bio:
Born in Gaza, Batniji divides his time between France and Palestine. He has an interdisciplinary practice including drawing, painting, installation and performance often closely related to his background. He has exhibited in the latest Istanbul and Venice Biennials. Batniji is represented by Galerie Sfeir-Semler, Hamburg/Beirut and Galerie Eric Dupont, Paris.
Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige
Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige are artists and filmmakers. For the last 15 years they have focused on the images, representations and history of their home country, Lebanon. Together they have directed documentaries such as Khiam 2000-2007 and El Film el Mafkoud (The lost film), and feature films such as Al Bayt el Zaher (1999) and A Perfect Day (2005). Their last feature film Je veux voir (I want to see), starring Catherine Deneuve and Rabih Mroue, premiered at Cannes Film festival in 2008 and was awarded ‘Best Singular Film’ by the French critics. Their films have been enthusiastically received, won many awards in international festivals and have enjoyed releases in many countries. They have created numerous photographic installations, among them: Faces, Lasting Images, Distracted Bullets, The Circle of Confusion, Don’t walk, War Trophies, Landscape of Khiam, A Fareway Souvenir and the multifaceted project Wonder Beirut. Their artwork has been shown in museums, biennials and art centers around the world and are part of important public and private collections, such as Musee d’art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, FNAC France, Guggenheim, New York, US, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France and the Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE. They presented their most recent art project, Lebanese Rocket Society, Elements for a Monument (2011) at the Sharjah Biennial and Biennale de Lyon. They are the authors of numerous publications and university lecturers in Lebanon and France, members of the board of Metropolis Cinema and co-founders of Abbout Productions with Georges Schoucair. Hadjithomas is also a board member of the Ashkal Alwan Academy, Home Workspace. They are represented by CRG Gallery, New York, In Situ Fabienne Leclerc, Paris and The Third Line, Dubai and live between Beirut and Paris.
Short bio:
Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige are artists and filmmakers. For the last 15 years they have focused on the images, representations and history of their home country, Lebanon. They are represented by CRG Gallery, New York, In Situ Fabienne Leclerc, Paris and The Third Line, Dubai and live between Beirut and Paris.
Wael Shawky
Wael Shawky studied fine art at the University of Alexandria before receiving his M.F.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in 2000. He lives and works in Alexandria. In 2010 he launched MASS Alexandria, the first Independent Studio Programme for young artists in the city. Shawky has received international acclaim for his work as an artist and filmmaker, his work largely explores transitional events in society, politics, culture and religion in the history of the Arab world. He has had numerous solo shows including: Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, UK (2011) Galerie Sfeir-Semler, Beirut, Lebanon (2010), Cittadellarte, Italy (2010), Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt (2009). Cabaret Crusades: The Horror Show File (2010) at ‘Untitled (12th Istanbul Biennial)’(2011). He has also exhibited at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK (2011), Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Brussels, Belgium (2011), New Museum and Queen’s Museum of Art, New York, UK, SITE Santa Fe Biennial, Santa Fe, US (2008); 3rd Riwaq Biennale, Ramallah, Palestine (2009), 3rd Marrakech Biennale, Morocco (2009), ‘Disorientation II’, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2009), 2nd Moscow Biennale, Russia (2007), 50th Venice Biennale, Italy (2003) among others. His work is included in the collections of Tate Modern, London, MACRO Museum, Rome, Darat Al Funun, Amman and Mart Museum Collection, Rovereto. Shawky has received Egyptian and international prizes such as the Ernest Schering Foundation Art Award, Berlin, (2011). He has participated in several international residency programmes. Wael Shawky is represented by Galerie Sfeir-Semler, Hamburg/Beirut.
Short bio:
Wael Shawky is an artist and filmmaker. In his work he explores transitional events in society, politics, culture and religion in the history of the Arab world. In 2010 he launched MASS Alexandria, an Independent Studio Programme for young artists and is represented by Galerie Sfeir-Semler, Hamburg/Beirut.
Risham Syed
Risham Syed’s practice critically focuses on the remains of cultural/historical inheritance and its perceived authenticity in present-day Pakistan. She received a BFA in Painting from the National College of Art, Lahore (1993) and an MA from the Royal College of Art, London (1996). Solo shows include: ‘Lahore 2010’, Rohtas Gallery, Lahore (2010), ‘And the Rest is History’, Talwar Gallery, New York (2010), Canvas Gallery, Karachi (2008). Her work has been exhibited in group shows including: ‘The Rising Tide’, Mohatta Palace Museum, Karachi (2010-11), Art Dubai, (2010), ‘Resemble/Reassemble’, Devi Art Foundation, Gurgaon, India (2009), ‘Emperor’s New Clothes: Dress, Politics and Identity in Pakistani Art’, Talwar Gallery (2008), ‘Conversations 1’, Elementa Gallery, Dubai (2007), ‘Landscape and Outside the Cube’, National Gallery of Art, Islamabad, (2005), ‘58 Years of Pakistani Art’, Alhamra Art Gallery, Lahore (2004), ‘Playing with the loaded gun’, Apex Art, New York (2002) & Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany (2004) 2nd Fukuoka Triennale, Museum of Asian Art, Fukuoka, Japan (2002), in ‘Threads, Dreams and Desires’, The Harris Museum, Preston, UK (1998). She was awarded the Stephenson Harwood Award (1996), Charles Wallace Trust Scholarship, UK (1996) and the Cite’ International des Arts, Paris, France (1995). She is currently an Assistant Professor at the School of Visual Art, Beaconhouse National University, Lahore, Pakistan, where she continues to live and work. Risham Syed is represented by Talwar Gallery, New York.
Short bio:
Risham Syed’s practice focuses on the remains of cultural/historical inheritance and its perceived authenticity in present-day Pakistan. She is an Assistant Professor at the School of Visual Art, Beaconhouse National University, Lahore, Pakistan, where she continues to live and work. Risham Syed is represented by Talwar Gallery, New York.
Raed Yassin
Raed Yassin was born in Beirut in 1979. He graduated from the theatre department of the Institute of Fine Arts in Beirut in 2003. An artist and musician, Yassin's work often originates from an examination of his personal narratives and their position within a collective history, through the lens of consumer culture and mass production. He has exhibited and performed his work in numerous museums, festivals and venues across Europe, the Middle East, the United States and Japan, including Sharjah Biennial 10 (2011), Delfina Foundation, London (2010-11) where he completed a residency program, Manifesta 8, Murcia (2010-11), Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (2011), De-Ateliers, Amsterdam following a 2-year residency, Home Works 5, Beirut (2010) and Photo Cairo 4 (2008). Yassin was awarded the Fidus Prize for The Best of Sammy Clark at Beirut Art Center's ‘Exposureexhibition’ (2009), the AFAC grant for production (2010), the YATF grant for production (2008) and the Cultural Resource grant for production (2008). Yassin is one of the organisers of IRTIJAL Festival, has released 10 music albums and founded the production company Annihaya in 2009. He is also a founding member of Atfal Ahdath a Beirut based art collective and his artwork is represented by Kalfayan Galleries, Athens/Thessaloniki. He currently lives and works in Beirut.
Short bio:
An artist and musician, Raed Yassin's work often originates from an examination of his personal narratives and their position within a collective history, through the lens of consumer culture and mass production. He is represented by Kalfayan Galleries, Athens/Thessaloniki and currently lives and works in Beirut.
Guest Curator: Nat Muller
Nat Muller is an independent curator and critic based between Rotterdam and the Middle East. Her main interests include the intersections of aesthetics, media and politics, media art and contemporary art in and from the Middle East. She has held staff positions at V2_Institute for Unstable Media in Rotterdam and De Balie, Centre for Arts & Politics in Amsterdam. Muller is a regular contributor for Springerin and MetropolisM. Her work has been published a.o. in Art Papers, Bidoun, ArtPulse, X-tra, Majalla Foreign Affairs Magazine, De Volkskrant, The Daily Star, and in a variety of catalogues and publications. She has curated video screenings for projects and festivals in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Berlin, New York, Istanbul, Copenhagen, Grimstad, Lugano, Dubai, Cairo and Beirut. With Alessandro Ludovico she edited the Mag.netReader2: Between Paper and Pixel (2007), and Mag.netReader3: Processual Publishing, Actual Gestures (2009), based on a series of debates organized at Documenta XII. She has taught at the Willem de Kooning Academy (NL), ALBA (Beirut), the Lebanese American University (Beirut), AUD. in Dubai (UAE), and the Rietveld Academy (NL). She has served as an advisor on Euro-Med collaborations for the European Cultural Foundation (ECF), the EU, and as an advisor on e-culture for the Dutch Ministry of Culture, and is currently art and new media advisor to the Dutch city of Utrecht. She is working on her first book for the Institute of Network Cultures and Nai Publishers. She serves on the advisory board of the Palestinian website project Artterritories (Ramallah), the arts organisation TENT (Rotterdam), and is on the selection committee of the Mondriaan Fund (NL), The Netherlands largest fund for the arts.
Short bio:
Nat Muller is an independent curator and critic based in Rotterdam. Her interests include the intersections of aesthetics, media and politics, media art and contemporary art in the Middle East. She has taught in academies and universities across Europe and the Middle East.
2011
Hamra Abbas
Hamra Abbas was born in Kuwait in 1976 and lives and works between Islamabad and Boston. Abbas has a versatile practice that straddles a wide range of media. Drawing upon culturally loaded imagery and iconography, in an often playful manner, Abbas appropriates and transforms traditional motifs and styles to examine questions of conflict within society. She has held several international solo exhibitions that include Cityscape, OUTLET Independent Art Space, Istanbul (2010); Adventures of the Woman in Black, Green Cardamom (2008); God Grows on Trees, Schultz Contemporary, Berlin (2008) and Lessons on Love, Rohtas 2, Lahore (2006). Her work has also been included in the 9th Sharjah Biennial (2009); the International Incheon Women Artists Biennale (2009): Thessaloniki Biennale (2009); Guangzou Triennial (2008); Istanbul Biennial (2007) and Sydney Biennale (2006). In 2009 Abbas was awarded the Jury Prize at the 9th Sharjah Biennial and was shortlisted for the inaugural Jameel Prize. She is represented by Green Cardamom, London and OUTLET Independent Art Space, Istanbul.
Jananne Al-Ani
Jananne Al-Ani was born in Kirkuk, Iraq in 1966. Working with photography, film and video, Al-Ani has a longstanding interest in the power of testimony and the documentary tradition, be it through intimate recollections of absence and loss or the exploration of more official accounts of historic events. Solo exhibitions of her work have been held at Darat al Funun, Amman (2010); Art Now, Tate Britain (2005); and the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC (1999). Recent group exhibitions include Closer, Beirut Art Center (2009); The Screen-Eye or the New Image: 100 videos to rethink the world, Casino Luxembourg (2007) and Without Boundary: Seventeen Ways of Looking, Museum of Modern Art, New York (2006). Al-Ani has also co-curated touring exhibitions including Veil (2003 – 4) and Fair Play (2001 – 2). Her work can be found in public collections, among them the Victoria & Albert Museum and Tate, London; the Pompidou Centre, Paris; the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC and Darat al Funun, Amman. Al-Ani's photographic work is represented by Rose Issa Projects, London.
Shezad Dawood
Shezad Dawood was born in London in 1974. He received an MPhil in Fine Art Photography from the Royal College of Art (2000 – 3) before gaining his PhD from Leeds Metropolitan University in 2008. Dawood has a research based practise that employs many different art forms. The evolution of his work has become increasingly more interdisciplinary and collaborative, as part of a discursive interest in mapping territories through narrative intersections between history, literature and cultural appropriation. Following his first solo show, Shezad Dawood & Friends, held at his studio in 2006, solo exhibitions of his work have been held at: Axel Lapp Projects, Berlin (2007); The Third Line, Dubai (2008); Galleria Riccardo Crespi, Milan (2008); Galerie Gabriel Rolt, Amsterdam (2009) and Aarhus Kunstbygning, Denmark (2010). He has also participated in the following group exhibitions: Empire Strikes Back: Indian Art Today, Saatchi Gallery, London; Disorientation II, Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi (2009); Making Worlds, The 53rd Venice Biennale (2009); Altermodern, Tate Britain (2009); Century City, Tate Modern, London (2001) and 000zerozerozero, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London (1999). Dawood’s works are in the collections of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, the Saatchi Collection and The Frank Cohen Collection in the UK. He is represented by The Third Line, Dubai; Paradise Row, London; Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai; Galleria Riccardo Crespi, Milan; and Galerie Gabriel Rolt, Amsterdam.
Nadia Kaabi-Linke
Nadia Kaabi-Linke was born in 1978 in Tunis to a Russian mother and Tunisian father. She studied at the University of Fine Arts in Tunis (1999) before receiving a PhD from the Sorbonne University in Paris (2008). Her installations, objects and pictorial works are embedded in urban contexts, intertwined with memory and geographically and politically constructed identities. She held her first major solo show, Tatort at Galerie Christian Hosp, Berlin in 2010. She has participated in several international group exhibitions that include Drawn from Life, Green Cardamom (2009 – 10) and Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendall, UK (2011); Split, Darb 1718 Contemporary, Cairo (2010); Aftermath, 25th Alexandria Biennale (2009); 9th Sharjah Biennial (2009); Art Connexions: Arab Contemporary Artists (2008) and Archives des banalities tunisoises (2009) both held at Galerie El Marsa, Tunis, the second was a solo show. In 2009 she was awarded the Jury Prize by the Alexandria Biennale. Kaabi-Linke is represented by Galerie Christian Hosp, Berlin.
Timo Nasseri
Timo Nasseri was born in Berlin in 1972 to a German mother and an Iranian father. He began his artistic career as a photographer, and in 2004 he made the transition to creating sculpture. Combining Islamic and western cultural heritages, his work is inspired as much by specific memories and religious references as by universal archetypes described by mathematics and language, and the inner truths of form and rhythm. He has held several solo exhibitions which include Ghazal, Sfeir-Semler, Hamburg (2009); One of Six, Kunstverein Arnsberg (2009); Epistrophy (2008) and Falling Stars (2006) both at Galerie Schleicher+Lange, Paris and Op-Felder, Galerie ABEL Raum fur Neue Kunst, Berlin (2002). He has also participated in the following group exhibitions: Taaffe-Streuli-Nasseri, Sfeir-Semler, Beirut (2010); Nasseri/Englund, Schleicher+Lange, Paris (2010); En Miroir, CRAC Alsace (2010); Taswir – Pictorial Mappings of Islam and Modernity, Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin (2009); Mashq: repetition, meditation, meditation, Green Cardamom, London (2009) and Eurasia, Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Trento (2008); Phoenix vs Babylone, Espace Paul Richard, Paris (2008) and ECHO, Sfeir-Semler, Beirut (2008). He was awarded the Prix Saar Ferngas Förderpreis Junge Kunst in 2006. He is represented by Galerie Schleicher+Lange, Paris and Sfeir-Semler, Hamburg and Beirut.
Guest curator: Sharmini Pereira
Sharmini Pereira is the director and founder of Raking Leaves, a not-for-profit independent publisher of artists' book projects and special editions, now regularly funded by the Arts Council England. Since 1999 she has worked internationally as an independent curator and writer. In 2006 she co-curated the first Singapore Biennale. She was a Trustee for Book Works, London (2005-2010) and an academic advisor for the Asia Art Archive (AAA), Hong Kong (2005-2009). She currently acts on the boards of several international organisations and journals such as: Arts Initiative Tokyo, Tokyo; In(de)print, South Africa and Camden Council Public Art Advisory Board, London. Sharmini lives and works in London and Columbo.
2010
Kader Attia with Curator Laurie Ann Farrell
Born in 1970, Kader Attia spent his childhood between France and Algeria, or between the Christian Occident and the Islamic Maghreb. His work explores the impact of Western cultural and political capitalism on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), as well as how a residual struggle with and resistance to colonisation impacts Arab youth, particularly in the banlieues (suburbs) of France where Attia lived. He is represented by Galerie Christian Nagel (Berlin and Cologne) and Galerie Krinzinger (Vienna).
Born in 1970, Laurie Ann Farrell is Curator and Executive Director of Exhibitions for the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), which operates galleries in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia, Lacoste in France and in Hong Kong. From 1999 to 2007 Farrell was Curator of Contemporary Art at the Museum for African Art in New York. Farrell earned her MA in Art History and Theory from the University of
Hala Elkoussy with Curator Jelle Bouwhuis
Hala Elkoussy was born in Cairo in 1974. She studied at the American University of Cairo (AUC) before completing an MA in Image and Communication at Goldsmiths College, University of London. In 2004, she co-founded the Contemporary Image Collective, an artist-run initiative dedicated to the visual image based in Cairo. Elkoussy's work delves into the intimate and overlooked sides of communal living to highlight underlying dynamics at play within the complex urban structure that is Cairo.
Jelle Bouwhuis was born in 1965 in Utrecht, The Netherlands. He is an art historian, critic, writer and curator. Since 2006 he has been curator at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam where he is responsible for the programme of exhibitions, publications and residences. He also manages the activities of the Stedelijk Museum Bureau, a project space in the city centre.
Marwan Sahmarani with Curator Mahita El Bacha Urieta
Marwan Sahmarani was born in Lebanon in 1970, and lives and works in Beirut. With an archetypal biography specific to his generation, he left Lebanon in 1989 and moved to Paris to study at l'École Supérieur d'Art Graphique. His practice often makes historical reference to art history and socio-political issues that are still very present in the Middle East but inspired by themes that are timeless. Sahmarani has exhibited with Fadi Mogabgab Contemporary Art Gallery, Beirut, The Third Line, Dubai, Selma Feriani Gallery, London and Kaysha Hildebrand, Zurich.
Mahita El Bacha Urieta is a curator, producer and arts policy specialist based in London. She has been active in the Middle East, working with the Sharjah Biennial (2004-07) and the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture & Heritage (ADACH). She has a BA in History and Archaeology of the Eastern Mediterranean region from the American University of Beirut (1997) and an MA in Arts Policy and Management, City University, London (2000).
2009
Kutluğ Ataman with Curator Cristiana Perrella
Kutluğ Ataman, born in Istanbul in 1961, is an acclaimed filmmaker and artist. Ataman's works primarily document the lives of marginalised individuals, examining the ways people create and rewrite their identities through self-expression, blurring the line between reality and fiction. In 2009 Mesopotamian Dramaturgies - a multi-element project which includes Strange Space has been exhibited at Lentos Museum as part of Linz European Capital of Culture 2009. His work fff has been shown at Thomas Dane Gallery, London (2009) and Whitechapel Gallery, London (2009/10).
Born in 1965, Cristiana Perrella was curator of the Contemporary Arts Program at the British School at Rome for ten years until 2008. In 2007 she was the founding curator of SACS, a Regional Agency for Contemporary Art in Sicily. She has published two survey books on the Italian art scene of the 1990s.
Nazgol Ansarinia with Curator Leyla Fakhr
Nazgol Ansarinia, born in 1979, lives and works in Tehran. She works in a variety of media, including installation, film, print and drawing. Her visual language is mostly determined by the nature of her subject. Ansarinia received her BA in Graphic and Media Design from the London School of Communications and her MFA in Design from CCA San Francisco. She was one of three finalists of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative program 2008 and shows with Green Cardomom, London.
Leyla Fakhr is an independent curator and an assistant curator at Tate Britain. She previously worked at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art and studied in Tehran and London, where she received her MA in Curating from Goldsmiths College, University of London in 2006.
Zoulikha Bouabdellah with Curator Carol Solomon
Bouabdellah was born in Moscow in 1977 while her parents were graduate students in documentary film and art history. She soon moved back to her native Algiers where she was frequently in the company of artists, spending time at the Musée National des Beaux-Arts d'Alger, where her mother was curator for ten years and director until 1994 when they were forced to flee to Paris. Bouabdellah shows with L.A. B.A.N.K., Paris and Gallery Isabelle Van Den Eynde, Dubai.
American-born art historian and curator Carol Solomon is currently Visiting Associate Professor of Art History at Haverford College, Haverford, Pennsylvania. Dr. Solomon received her PhD in Art History from the University of Pittsburgh in 1987.