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فير زملر غاليري Sfeir-Semler Gallery

Boghiguian’s work was first shown in Catherine David’s Contemporary Arab Representations, beginning in 2003 in Rotterdam. Attracting much attention and acclaim, her drawings also stirred political debate and controversy, especially in her native Egypt. 

Boghiguian was born in 1946, an Armenian in Cairo, yet never adopted the city as her only home, continuing to have a conflicting relationship with the city today. Living a nomadic life, the artist has constantly moved from city to city across the globe, from Egypt to Canada and India to France.

Immersing herself in the sights and sounds of the city, as well as the literature, poetry and politics of its people, the artist nonetheless remained distant, an outsider in a busy metropolis.

Her work offers a unique third person yet omniscient view of modern urban communities.

Anna Boghiguian’s works are dense compositions. In them are often text, images, collected photographs and other documentary material closely interwoven.

The intense colors and her spontaneous and expressive drawings are reminiscent of diary entries. They seem to visualize and record momentary experience and perception in its various facets.

The gallery will be showing her work in many different media from sculptures and textile works to paintings and drawings. The exhibition will include many works Boghiguian has made in Beirut with direct references to the city and its people.

Her recent work has focused on the human ear and a medium to receive and process knowledge of a society and its environment. As an observer, Boghiguian’s ear takes in the chatter of people and the bustle of the city.

It goes unnoticed of its activity, silently collecting information making the urban experience even more vivid.

Anna Boghiguian studied political science at the American University of Cairo, Egypt and received her BFA in Fine Arts and Music at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. She has participated in international group exhibitions such as Contemporary Arab Representation (2003-04) curated by Catherine David, which travelled through various European cities, the 11th Istanbul Biennial curated by WHW, and dOCUMENTA (13)... As part of her DAAD scholarship she had a solo show at the daadgalerie, Berlin in March 2013. Her work had a major presence in Documenta 13 (Kassel, 2012) and she has since been shown at University of Chicago, who acquired a large body of her work, NGBK (Berlin, 2014), INIVA (London, 2013), and most recently included a group exhibition at the New Museum (New York, 2014)…