21 ARTISTS AND A BIENNIAL | WAEL SHAWKY

Wael Shawky
Artist and filmmaker

Portrait of Wael Shawky. Image courtesy of Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut/Hamburg

Honorary Doctorate (Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa), The Graduate Centre, City University of New York, USA

Wael Shawky (b.1971, Alexandria, Egypt) lives and works in Alexandria, Egypt and Philadelphia, USA. In 2010 Founded MASS Alexandria, Egypt, (an independent nonprofit school for contemporary art that offers spaces for art practices, interdisciplinary research and critical thinking education). His work has been showcased at major international exhibitions such as Sharjah Biennial 14 (2019); AroS Aurhus Kunstmuseum, Denmark (2018); Theatre de Welt, Hamburg (2017); Castello Di Rivoli, Museum D’Arte Contemporanea, Turin (2016); MoMA PS1, New York (2015); 15th Istanbul Biennale (2015); SALT, Istanbul (2014); Here & Elsewhere, The New Museum, New York (2014); Serpentine Gallery, London (2014); Re:emerge, Sharjah Biennial (2013); Documenta 13, Kassel (2012); 9th Gwangju Biennial, South Korea (2012); 12th International Istanbul Biennial (2011).

Wael Shawky, Al Araba Al Madfuna III, 2016. HD video sound, 27 min, Still 3. Image Courtesy of Sfeir- Semler Gallery, Beirut/ Hamburg.

HIS ARTISTIC PROCESS ANALYSES THEMES SUCH AS THE SOCIAL, CULTURAL, POLITICAL AND
RELIGIOUS DYNAMICS OF THE ARAB WORLD, ESPECIALLY IN OPPOSITION TO WESTERN CIVILISATION

Wael Shawky, Al Araba Al Madfuna II, video still 1. Image courtesy of Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut/Hamburg

He is celebrated especially for his masterful
use of marionettes that he employs to illustrate
evocative moments of Arab history.

Awards:

The Honorary Citizenship of the City of Palermo (2017) Sharjah Biennial Award (2013) Award for the Filmic Oeuvre, created by Louis Vuitton Kino der Kunst, Munich (2013) Abraaj Capital Art Prize, Dubai, joint winner (2012) Kunstpreis Schering Stiftung, Berlin (2011) Grand Prize, 25th Alexandria Biennale (2009)

Wael Sahwky, The Song of Roland. The Arabic Version, 2017. Stage setting. © Janto Djassi 03. Image courtesy of Sfeir- Semler Gallery, Beirut/ Hamburg.

Wael Shawky, Dictums, 2013. Sharjah Biennial 11. Image courtesy of Sharjah Art Foundation, eflux, and Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut/Hamburg.

Works in Public Collections:

Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA; Tate Modern, London,
UK; Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar; K20
Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany; MACBA:
Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain;
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada; Guggenheim
Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE; APT Dubai, Dubai, UAE; Sharjah
Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE; Serpentine Gallery, London,
UK; Darat Al Funun, Amman, Jordan; MACRO: Museo d’Arte
Contemporanea Rome, Italy; Mart Museum Collection, Trento,
Italy; Muzeum Sztuki Nowoczesnej w Warssawie: Museum of
Modern Art, Warsaw, Poland; MUDAM: Musée d’Art Moderne
Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg; Margulies Collection, Miami,
USA; Inhotim, Belo Horizonte, Brazil; François Pinault Foundation, Venice, Italy; Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Torino, Italy

Wael Shawky, The Cave, Amsterdam, 2005. Video, colour, sound, screen shot 611. Image courtesy of Sfeir- Semler Gallery, Beirut/ Hamburg.

Wael Shawky’s work is exhibited at the sixth edition of Glasstress. He has been invited again by Glasstress to explore “how glass redefines our perception of space.”