I have lived my entire life in exile from Palestine. I was born in Kuwait where only nationals are granted citizenship and spent the first eight years of my childhood in France until my family was denied residency and forced to leave. Left without options, we immigrated to the US and began a life in the Midwest – all the while continuing to make yearly visits to the Gaza Strip. My work as an artist has come out of this tumult – it is an articulation of simultaneously being from nowhere and everywhere; it comes from witnessing the passage of time through the erasure of cities, the perpetual redrawing of borders, and the endless change of governing bodies, of cease-fires and failed peace agreements. Yet as deeply rooted in the culture and history of the Middle East as I am, I am equally alien to it. My nationality has shifted three times in the span of 29 years and since 2007 my practice has developed through a nomadic inhabitance of cities like Cairo, Beirut, Amman, Sharjah and most recently Paris. The subjective experience of statelessness and constant migration is one that has come to inform projects revolving around the guise of information through a phenomenological approach in navigating the Question of Palestine. My works seek to embody a kind of placelessness, one that looks beyond a singular experience in the course of exploring the repercussions of history or politics on the everyday and the geopolitical shifts we carry from the past into the future.
Education
2007
Master of Fine Arts the University of Illinois at Chicago concentration in Photography, Film and Video
2005
Bachelor of Fine Arts the University of Illinois at Chicago concentration in Photography, Film and Video, minor in English literature & composition
2004
Malmö Art Academy
Master of Fine Arts in Visual Arts program, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
Selected exhibitions
Solo Shows
2015
Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, SWITZERLAND
Courtisane Film Festival, Ghent BELGIUM
Cinema Dynamo: Solo Program, Centre d’Art Contemporain Geneve, SWITZERLAND
MODULES: FONDATION PIERRE BERGÉ - YVES SAINT LAURENT, Palais De Tokyo, Paris FRANCE
2014
Galerie Imane Fares: Solo Show. Paris FRANCE
Conversations at the Edge: co-hosted by the Gene Siskel Film Center, VDB and SAIC. Chicago USA
2012
the Sharjah Art Foundation, the UAE
A Space Gallery co-presented by the Images
Festival and Trinity Square Video Toronto CANADA;
Darat ElFunun, Amman JORDAN
Group shows and biennials
2015
Arab territories: Constantine, capital of Arab Culture. Palace of Culture. ALGERIA
Echoes and Reverberations: Hayward Gallery. London UK
Deserts, Galerie Imane Farés, Paris FRANCE
Supernova: STUDIOCUR/ART Milan, ITALY
The 5th Riwaq Biennale, Ramallah PALESTINE
2014
The 4D Project: Onomichi City Museum of Art, JAPAN
Disappearing Acts, Herndion Gallery, Antioch College Ohio, USA
Here & Elsewhere: the New Museum, NYC, USA
Berlin Documentary Forum 3, GERMANY
Meeting Points 7: CIC, Cairo EGYPT
Parle Pour Toi: Galerie Marian Goodman, Paris FRANCE
2013
Conversation Pieces: Galerie Art & Essai Rennes FRANCE
Colony of Light / Greater NY, MOMA PS1, NYC USA
Psychic Geographies: Urban Video Project and Light Work, Syracuse NY USA
The Box: Wexner Center for the Arts
On love and other landscapes Basma Alsharif & Yazan Khalili Galerie Imane Farès, Paris FRANCE
2012
the Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris FRANCE
Garden of Eden: The Palais de Tokyo: Paris FRANCE
2011
VideoBrasil, São Paulo BRASIL
CATE Screening Series, Chicago USA
Forum Expanded: the Berlinale, Berlin GERMANY;
ITINERARIOS XVII: Fundación Marcelino Botín,
Santander SPAIN
2010
Manifesta 8: Region of Murcia SPAIN
the Defina Foundation, Edinburgh College of Art UK
2009
Contemporary Art Centre of Souther Australia,
Adelaide AUSTRALIA;
The Sharjah Biennial 9, the UAE
2008
The Jerusalem Show, Al Ma’amal Foundation for Contemporary Art, PALESTINE
Film festivals
2015
Hong Kong International Film Festival, HONG KONG
CROSSROADS Film Festival, San Francisco USA
Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival, SCOTLAND
Filmadrid, Madrid SPAIN
Lima Independiente, PERU
Encuentros del Otro Cine, Quito and Guayaquil ECUADOR
Courtisane Festival, Ghent BELGIUM
Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, JAPAN
2014
29th Mar del Plata International Film Festival, Mar del Plata, ARGENTINA
Filmmaker Festival: FESTIVAL INTERNAZIONALE DI CINEMA DAL 1980, Milan, ITALY
Projections, the New York Film Festival, USA
25 FPS, Zagreb CROATIA
Image Forum: Yokohama Museum of Art, JAPAN
Ambulante Film Festival, MEXICO
San Francisco International Film Festival, USA
Ann Arbor Film Festival, USA
2013
Featured artist of Art Star Video Art Biennial, SAW Video Media Art Centre. Ottawa CANADA
Wavelengths: Toronto International Film Festival CANADA
Views From The Avant-Garde: New York Film Festival, USA
Guest Artist of the Flaherty Film Seminar, Hamilton NY, USA
Media City Film Festival, Windsor Ontario CANADA
London Palestine Film Festival, UK
FLEX film/video festival, USA
IFFR, the NETHERLANDS
2012
29th Kassel Documentary Film and
Video Festival Kassel GERMANY
the New Media Festival, Seoul KOREA
Videoex Festival Zurich SWITZERLAND
2011
Yamagata International Documentary
Film Festival, JAPAN
Transmedial Berlin GERMANY
the 49th Ann Arbor Film Festival USA
the Images festival, Toronto CANADA
2010
Video_Dumbo, Brooklyn, NY USA
Toronto International Film Festival CANADA
London Palestine Film Festival, UK
2009
Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin/Madrid
Docudays: Beirut LEBANON
ArabShorts: Goethe Institut, Cairo EGYPT
Chicago Underground Film Festival, USA
2008
Palestine Film Week, Al-Balad Theater
Amman JORDAN
Chicago Palestine Film Festival, USA
2007
Jeu Du Paumes Paris, FRANCE
ARTEAST, NYC USA
Awards and grants
2015
LOOP Fair Prize acquisition CATALONIA RAMBLES: the Best Gallery Proposal and Best Exhibited Work, Barcelona SPAIN
2014
Winner of the International Competition at VIDEOEX Experimental Film & Video Festival Zurich
2013
Canada Arts Council Grant: Visiting Foreign Artist Programme
Honorable Mention: Media City Film Festival
2012
3rd Prize in the Experimental category:
Athens International Film & Video Festival, Ohio USA
Step Beyond Grant: European Cultural Foundation
2011
Canada Arts Council Grant: Visiting Foreign Artist Programme
Marion McMahon Award, Images Festival Toronto Canada
Visual Arts Grant from the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture
Fund from the A.M. Qattan Foundation: Culture and Arts Programme
2009-10
Recipient of the Fundación Marcelino Botín Grant for Visual Arts
2009
Jury Prize at the 9th Edition of the Sharjah Biennial
Workshops, residencies, artist talks
2015
Jury for inaugural CNAP prize at FID Marseille, France; Artist Talks: CalArts' Paul Brach Visiting Artist Lecture Series, Los Angeles USA;
MFA Studio Lecture Series at Portland State University’s School of Art + Design, USA;
LUX Salon, London.
2014
Lecture, Something You Should Know: EHESS (The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences) Paris, FRANCE;
Public lecture, Screening and Masterclass: DOCVA - Documentation Center for Visual Arts, Milan ITALY;
The Spring Sessions Experimental Academy, Amman JORDAN;
artist-in-residence of Pavillon Neuflize OBC at the Palais de Tokyo Paris FRANCE;
the MacDowell Colony, New Hampshire, USA
2013
Saw Video: Masterclass, Ottawa CANADA
Concordia College: Workshop. Montreal CANADA
Guest Speaker: Palestine and the Moving Image Conference,
SOAS LONDON, UK
2012
Guest Artist of the Philip Hoffman Film Farm CANADA
2011
the Sharjah Art Foundation Artist Residency
2009
the Fodazione Antonio Ratti:
Advanced Course in Visual Arts XV, Como ITALY
Makan Artist Residency Amman JORDAN
Distrbution
VIDEO DATA BANK, Chicago Illinois. USA
Arsenal - Institut für Film und Videokunst e.V., Berlin, GERMANY
LOWAVE, Film & Curator Label. Paris, FRANCE
Collections
Le Centre national des arts plastiques, FRANCE
The Sharjah Art Foundation collection, UAE
The Fundacion Marcelino Botin collection, SPAIN
The Khalid Shoman Foundation, JORDAN
LOOP, Barcelona SPAIN
Basma Alsharif
Education 2007 Master of Fine Arts the University of Illinois at Chicago concentration in Photography, Film and Video 2005 Bachelor of Fine Arts the University of Illinois at Chicago concentration in Photography, Film and Video, minor in English literature & composition 2004 Malmö Art Academy Master of Fine Arts in Visual Arts program, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden Selected exhibitions Solo Shows 2015 Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, SWITZERLAND Courtisane Film Festival, Ghent BELGIUM Cinema Dynamo: Solo Program, Centre d’Art Contemporain Geneve, SWITZERLAND MODULES: FONDATION PIERRE BERGÉ - YVES SAINT LAURENT, Palais De Tokyo, Paris FRANCE 2014 Galerie Imane Fares: Solo Show. Paris FRANCE Conversations at the Edge: co-hosted by the Gene Siskel Film Center, VDB and SAIC. Chicago USA 2012 the Sharjah Art Foundation, the UAE A Space Gallery co-presented by the Images Festival and Trinity Square Video Toronto CANADA; Darat ElFunun, Amman JORDAN Group shows and biennials 2015 Arab territories: Constantine, capital of Arab Culture. Palace of Culture. ALGERIA Echoes and Reverberations: Hayward Gallery. London UK Deserts, Galerie Imane Farés, Paris FRANCE Supernova: STUDIOCUR/ART Milan, ITALY The 5th Riwaq Biennale, Ramallah PALESTINE 2014 The 4D Project: Onomichi City Museum of Art, JAPAN Disappearing Acts, Herndion Gallery, Antioch College Ohio, USA Here & Elsewhere: the New Museum, NYC, USA Berlin Documentary Forum 3, GERMANY Meeting Points 7: CIC, Cairo EGYPT Parle Pour Toi: Galerie Marian Goodman, Paris FRANCE 2013 Conversation Pieces: Galerie Art & Essai Rennes FRANCE Colony of Light / Greater NY, MOMA PS1, NYC USA Psychic Geographies: Urban Video Project and Light Work, Syracuse NY USA The Box: Wexner Center for the Arts On love and other landscapes Basma Alsharif & Yazan Khalili Galerie Imane Farès, Paris FRANCE 2012 the Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris FRANCE Garden of Eden: The Palais de Tokyo: Paris FRANCE 2011 VideoBrasil, São Paulo BRASIL CATE Screening Series, Chicago USA Forum Expanded: the Berlinale, Berlin GERMANY; ITINERARIOS XVII: Fundación Marcelino Botín, Santander SPAIN 2010 Manifesta 8: Region of Murcia SPAIN the Defina Foundation, Edinburgh College of Art UK 2009 Contemporary Art Centre of Souther Australia, Adelaide AUSTRALIA; The Sharjah Biennial 9, the UAE 2008 The Jerusalem Show, Al Ma’amal Foundation for Contemporary Art, PALESTINE Film festivals 2015 Hong Kong International Film Festival, HONG KONG CROSSROADS Film Festival, San Francisco USA Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival, SCOTLAND Filmadrid, Madrid SPAIN Lima Independiente, PERU Encuentros del Otro Cine, Quito and Guayaquil ECUADOR Courtisane Festival, Ghent BELGIUM Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, JAPAN 2014 29th Mar del Plata International Film Festival, Mar del Plata, ARGENTINA Filmmaker Festival: FESTIVAL INTERNAZIONALE DI CINEMA DAL 1980, Milan, ITALY Projections, the New York Film Festival, USA 25 FPS, Zagreb CROATIA Image Forum: Yokohama Museum of Art, JAPAN Ambulante Film Festival, MEXICO San Francisco International Film Festival, USA Ann Arbor Film Festival, USA 2013 Featured artist of Art Star Video Art Biennial, SAW Video Media Art Centre. Ottawa CANADA Wavelengths: Toronto International Film Festival CANADA Views From The Avant-Garde: New York Film Festival, USA Guest Artist of the Flaherty Film Seminar, Hamilton NY, USA Media City Film Festival, Windsor Ontario CANADA London Palestine Film Festival, UK FLEX film/video festival, USA IFFR, the NETHERLANDS 2012 29th Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival Kassel GERMANY the New Media Festival, Seoul KOREA Videoex Festival Zurich SWITZERLAND 2011 Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, JAPAN Transmedial Berlin GERMANY the 49th Ann Arbor Film Festival USA the Images festival, Toronto CANADA 2010 Video_Dumbo, Brooklyn, NY USA Toronto International Film Festival CANADA London Palestine Film Festival, UK 2009 Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin/Madrid Docudays: Beirut LEBANON ArabShorts: Goethe Institut, Cairo EGYPT Chicago Underground Film Festival, USA 2008 Palestine Film Week, Al-Balad Theater Amman JORDAN Chicago Palestine Film Festival, USA 2007 Jeu Du Paumes Paris, FRANCE ARTEAST, NYC USA Awards and grants 2015 LOOP Fair Prize acquisition CATALONIA RAMBLES: the Best Gallery Proposal and Best Exhibited Work, Barcelona SPAIN 2014 Winner of the International Competition at VIDEOEX Experimental Film & Video Festival Zurich 2013 Canada Arts Council Grant: Visiting Foreign Artist Programme Honorable Mention: Media City Film Festival 2012 3rd Prize in the Experimental category: Athens International Film & Video Festival, Ohio USA Step Beyond Grant: European Cultural Foundation 2011 Canada Arts Council Grant: Visiting Foreign Artist Programme Marion McMahon Award, Images Festival Toronto Canada Visual Arts Grant from the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture Fund from the A.M. Qattan Foundation: Culture and Arts Programme 2009-10 Recipient of the Fundación Marcelino Botín Grant for Visual Arts 2009 Jury Prize at the 9th Edition of the Sharjah Biennial Workshops, residencies, artist talks 2015 Jury for inaugural CNAP prize at FID Marseille, France; Artist Talks: CalArts' Paul Brach Visiting Artist Lecture Series, Los Angeles USA; MFA Studio Lecture Series at Portland State University’s School of Art + Design, USA; LUX Salon, London. 2014Lecture, Something You Should Know: EHESS (The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences) Paris, FRANCE; Public lecture, Screening and Masterclass: DOCVA - Documentation Center for Visual Arts, Milan ITALY; The Spring Sessions Experimental Academy, Amman JORDAN; artist-in-residence of Pavillon Neuflize OBC at the Palais de Tokyo Paris FRANCE; the MacDowell Colony, New Hampshire, USA 2013 Saw Video: Masterclass, Ottawa CANADA Concordia College: Workshop. Montreal CANADA Guest Speaker: Palestine and the Moving Image Conference, SOAS LONDON, UK 2012 Guest Artist of the Philip Hoffman Film Farm CANADA 2011 the Sharjah Art Foundation Artist Residency 2009 the Fodazione Antonio Ratti: Advanced Course in Visual Arts XV, Como ITALY Makan Artist Residency Amman JORDAN Distrbution VIDEO DATA BANK, Chicago Illinois. USA Arsenal - Institut für Film und Videokunst e.V., Berlin, GERMANY LOWAVE, Film & Curator Label. Paris, FRANCE Collections Le Centre national des arts plastiques, FRANCE The Sharjah Art Foundation collection, UAE The Fundacion Marcelino Botin collection, SPAIN The Khalid Shoman Foundation, JORDAN LOOP, Barcelona SPAIN