Wael Shawky
- Wael Shawky
- Work
Drama 1882, exhibition view, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy, 2024
Wael Shawky (b. 1971 in Alexandria) lives and works in Alexandria, Egypt and Philadelphia, USA. In 2010, he founded MASS Alexandria, 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 M Leuven Museum, Brussels, Belgium (2022); The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, USA (2021); The Louvre Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2020); The Polygon, Vancouver, Canada (2020); ARoS, Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Aarhus, Denmark (2018); Sfeir-Semler Hamburg (2018); Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Yinchaun, China (2017); Castello di Rivoli, Turin, Italy (2016); Fondazione Merz, Turin, Italy (2016); Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria (2016); Fondazione Merz, Zurich, Switzerland (2016); MATHAF, Doha, Qatar (2015); MoMA P.S.1, New York, USA (2015); 15th Istanbul Biennale, Istanbul, Turkey (2015); Sfeir-Semler Beirut (2015); SALT, Istanbul (2014); K20 Düsseldorf, Germany (2014-15); Here & Elsewhere, The New Museum, New York, USA (2014); Serpentine Galleries, London, UK (2013-14); Re:emerge, Sharjah Biennial, Sharjah, UAE (2013); Documenta 13, Kassel, Germany (2012); KW Contemporary Art Institute, Berlin, Germany (2012); 9th Gwangju Biennial, South Korea (2012); Nottingham Contemporary, UK (2011); Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, USA (2011); and Sfeir-Semler Beirut (2010).
Shawky has received many awards for his work, including the Honorary Citizenship of the City of Palermo (2017); the 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); Schering Stiftung Art Award, Berlin (2011); Grand Prize, 25th Alexandria Biennale (2009). In 2011, he was an Artist in Residence at The Center for Possible Studies, Serpentine Gallery, London.
| Selected Solo Exhibitions | |
| 2024 | 2024 Overseas Exchange Exhibition: Wael Shawky, Daegu Art Museum, Daegu, South Korea Egyptian Pavillon, La Biennale Di Venezia 2024 I Am Hymns of the New Temples, Museo di Palazzo Grimani, Venice, Italy I Am Hymns of the New Temples, LaM, Lille, France |
| 2023 | I am Hymns of the New Temples, Sfeir-Semler Gallery Karantina, Beirut, Lebanon I Am Hymns of the New Temples, Pompeii Archaeological Park, Pompeii, Italy |
| 2022 | Dry Culture Wet Culture, Museum Leuven, Belgium |
| 2021 | FOCUS: Wael Shawky, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas, USA |
| 2019 | Al Araba Al Madfuna, The Polygon Gallery, Vancouver, Canada |
| 2018 | The Crusades and Current Stories, ARoS, Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Aarhus, Denmark Wael Shawky, Lia Rumma Gallery, Naples, Italy Al Araba Al Madfuna III, Galerie Sfeir-Semler, Hamburg, Germany The Song of Roland: The Arabic Version, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates The Song of Roland: The Arabic Version, The Theater an der Wien, The Opera House, Vienna, Austria Al Araba Al Madfuna III, St. Elmo Exam Center, Valletta, Malta |
| 2017 | Al Araba Al Madfuna, Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Yinchaun, China The Song of Roland: The Arabic Version, Theatre de Welt, Kampnagel, Hamburg, Germany The Song of Roland: The Arabic Version, Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam, Holland Festival, Amsterdam, Holland The Song of Roland: The Arabic Version, Onasis cultural center, Athens, Greece Focus on Wael Shawky, Onasis Cultural Center, Athens, Greece Focus on Wael Shawky, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece Cabaret Crusades: The Path to Cairo, Palazzo Branciforte, Palermo, Sicily Al Araba Al Madfuna III, Saints Euno and Giuliano Church, Palermo, Sicily Cabaret Crusades trilogy screening, Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago, USA |
| 2016 | Cabaret Crusades, Castello di Rivoli, Turin, Italy Al Araba Al Madfuna, Fondazione Merz, Turin, Italy Wael Shawky, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Bregenz, Austria Wael Shawky, Al Araba Al Madfuna III, Fondazione Merz, Zurich, Switzerland Wael Shawky. Drawing, Lisson Gallery, Milan, Italy |
| 2015 | Cabaret Crusades, MoMA PS1, New York, USA Crusades and Other Stories, MATHAF: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar Cabaret Crusades trilogy screenings, Palais Royal – Musée du Louvre, Paris, France |
| 2014 | Cabaret Crusades, K20 Museum: Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf, Germany Al Araba Al Madfuna II, Festwochen-Zentrum im Künstlerhaus, Vienna, Austria Horsemen Adore Perfumes and Other Stories, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates Dictums, Lisson Gallery, London, United Kingdom |
| 2013 | al-Qurban/The Offering, Serpentine Gallery, London, United Kingdom Cabaret Crusades, Ludwig Forum, Aachen, Germany Cabaret Crusades: The Horror Show File, The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA, USA Wael Shawky, Art Gallery of York University, Toronto, Canada Cabaret Crusades: The Path to Cairo, Pinault Collection, Teatrino Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy |
| 2012 | Al Araba Al Madfuna, KW: Kunst-Werke Institute, Berlin, Germany |
| 2011 | Wael Shawky, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, United Kingdom Drawings and Flags from Cabaret Crusades, Walker Art Gallery, National Museums, Liverpool, UK Larvae Channel, Delfina Foundation, London, UK |
| 2010 | Contemporary Myths, Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto, Biella, Italy Contemporary Myths, Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon |
| 2009 | Larvae Channel 2, Project Gentili, Berlin, Germany Clean History, Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt Wael Shawky, Darat al Funun, Amman, Jordan |
| 2007 | Then you will return to me and I will judge between you in the matters in which you used to dispute, Kunsthalle Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland Digital Church, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh, United Kingdom The Forty Days Road, Wet Culture – Dry Culture, Galeria Sztuki Wspolczesnej, Bunkier Sztukim, Krakow, Poland Al Aqsa Park, YAMA, digital screen on top of Marmara Hotel, Istanbul, Turkey Telematch Sadat/Telematch Market/Al Aqsa Park, Koninklijke Vlaamse Schouwburg, Brussels, Belgium Telematch Sadat/Al Aqsa Park, Hebbel am Ufer 3, Berlin, Germany Telematch Sadat, San Matteo Curch, Lucca, Italy |
| 2006 | Drawings 1998–2006, Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt |
| 2005 | The Green Land Circus, Factory Space, Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt Wael Shawky, Ludwigsburg Kunstverein, Ludwigsburg, Germany |
| 2003 | Asphalt Quarter, Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt |
| 2002 | When he decided to visit the Christmas village, Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt |
| 2001 | Transitions, Ashkal Alwan, Beirut, Lebanon Sidi El Asphalt’s Moulid, Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt |
Selected Group Exhibitions | |
| 2023 | In the Heart of Another Country: The Diasporic Imagination Rises, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE Alexandria: Past Futures, MUCEM, Marseille, France MACBA Collection. Prelude. Poetic Intention, MACBA, Barcelona, Spain In The Heart of Another Country, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Germany |
| 2022 | Cabaret Crusades: The Horror Show File, Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom Alexandria: Past Futures, Bozar Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels, Belgium |
| 2020 | Fragmenter le monde / Our world is burning, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France Desert X AlUla, AlUla, Saudi Arabia between the sun and the moon, Lahore Biennale 02, Pakistan |
| 2019 | Gohyang: Home, SeMA, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea Look for Me All Around You, Sharjah Biennial 14, Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE Heart of Darkness. Can Art Prevent Mistakes?, Officine Grandi Riparazioni of Turin in collaboration with Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Torino, Italy |
| 2018 | Crude, Jameel Arts Center, Dubai, UAE Beyond Borders, Boghossian Foundation, Brussels, Belgium The Dictionary of Evil, Gangwon International Biennale, South Korea March Meeting, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates General Rehearsal, MMOMA: Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Moscow, Russia Wiener Festwochen, The Theater an der Wien, The Opera House, Vienna, Austria Valletta 2018, St. Elmo Exam Center, Valletta, Malta |
| 2017 | Islands, Constellations, and Galapagos, Yokohama Triennial, Yokohama, Japan Everything at Once, Vinyl Factory & Lisson Gallery, The Store, London, United Kingdom Punte Brillanti Di Lance Festival, Fondazione Merz, Turin, Italy MOMENTUM 9 - The Nordic Biennial of Contemporary Art, Moss, Norway Theater der Welt Festival, Hamburg, Germany Imaginary Asia, Nam June Paik Art Center, Yongin-si, South Korea Holland Festival, Amsterdam, Holland Theaterspektakel Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland Dream City Tunis Biennial – 6th Edition, Tunis, Tunisia BAM – Archipelago Mediterranean Biennial Palermo, Sicily, Italy |
| 2016 | OUTSIDE THE SENTENCE - THERE WHAT IS A CITY, SALT, Istanbul, Turkey Reconstruction of Story II, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Bruxelles, Belgium The Migrant (Moving) Image, Tale of a Tub, Vanity Projects, New York & Miami, USA Performer/Audience/Mirror, Lisson Gallery, London, United Kingdom PLATO video 07 – War: Marine Hugonniere, Wael Shawky, Clemens von Wedemeyer,PLATO, Ostrava, Czech Republic The Time is Out of Joint, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates |
| 2015 | Une Brève Histoire de L’ A venir, Musée du Louvre, Paris, France Cinema of Art 2015, Munich, Germany Saltwater, 14th Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul, Turkey Mario Merz Prize, Fondazione Merz, Turin, Italy Too early, too late: Middle East and Modernity, Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna, Bologna, Italy Cross Section of a Revolution, Lisson Gallery, London, United Kingdom |
| 2014 | Manifesta 10, The State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia You Imagine What You Desire, 19th Biennale of Sydney, Sydney, Australia Fotofest 2014, Houston, TX, USA Now Babylon, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark 11th Dak’Art Biennale, Dakar, Senegal The Anthropology Effect, MAP Centre for Contemporary Art, Glasgow, United Kingdom Here and Elsewhere, New Museum, New York, USA Neighbors: Contemporary Narratives from Turkey and Beyond, Istanbul Modern Museum, Istanbul, Turkey |
| 2013 | A History of Inspiration, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France In the Heart of the Country, Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, Poland Dreams of Reason: Highlights of the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Collection, Centre of Contemporary Art in Torun, Torun, Poland Re:emerge, 11th Sharjah Biennial, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates Moment – Frontlines, Moderna Museet Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden Les choses du cote du monde, Musée des civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France The Translation, Cabaret Voltaire, Zurich, Switzerland Equator #2, Jogja Biennale XII, Yogyakarta, Indonesia Cinema of Art 2013, Munich, Germany |
| 2013 | A History of Inspiration, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France In the Heart of the Country, Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, Poland Dreams of Reason: Highlights of the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Collection,Centre of Contemporary Art in Torun, Torun, Poland Re:emerge, 11th Sharjah Biennial, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates Moment – Frontlines, Moderna Museet Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden Les choses du cote du monde, Musée des civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France The Translation, Cabaret Voltaire, Zurich, Switzerland Equator #2, Jogja Biennale XII, Yogyakarta, Indonesia Cinema of Art 2013, Munich, Germany |
| 2012 | dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel, Germany dOCUMENTA (13), Kabul, Afghanistan Mirages d’Orient: Grenades et Figures de Barbaries, Collection Lambert, Avignon, France Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Bruxelles, Belgium Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art 7th, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia Home Works 6, Ashkal Alwan, Beirut, Lebanon 5th Bucharest Biennial, Bucharest, Romania On the Edgware Road, Serpentine Gallery, London, United Kingdom 9th Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju, South Korea |
| 2011 | 12th Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul, Turkey Serious Games: Krieg, Medien Kunst, Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt Museum, Darmstadt, Germany The Accord, Museum as Hub, New Museum, New York, USA Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Bruxelles, Belgium EVENTO 2011. Bordeaux’s urban and artistic rendezvous, Bordeaux, France Miragens, Institute Tomie Ohtake/Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, São Paulo, Brazil |
| 2010 | Lo Spazio del Sacro, Galleria Civica di Modena, Modena, Italy Home Works 5, Ashkal Alwan, Beirut, Lebanon The Image in Question. War – Media – Art, Carpenter Center for Visual Arts, Cambridge, USA Breaking News: Contemporary Photography from the Middle East and Africa,Ex Ospedale Sant’Agostino, Modena, Italy Localities: My World Images Festival, Museet for Samtigskunst, Roskilde, Sweden Beyond Credit: Contemporary Art and Mutual Trust, Sanat Limani Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey What’s Happening Now?, Casa Arabe Madrid, Madrid, Spain |
| 2009 | The Columns Held Us Up, Artists Space, New York, NY, USA A Proposal For Articulating Works and Places, 3rd Marrakech Biennale, Marrakech, Morocco 25th Alexandria Biennale, Alexandria, Egypt Tarjama, Queens Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA Socially Disorganised, Lion Arts Centre, Adelaide, Australia |
| 2008 | SITE, Santa Fe 7th International Biennial, Santa Fe, NM, USA Medium Religion, Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie Karsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany Scènes du Sud, Carré d’Art, Musée d’art contemporain de Nîmes, Nîmes, France |
| 2007 | Gestures of Infinity, Minotoren Kultur, Graz, Austria Gegenwart aus Jahrtausenden: Zeitgenössische Kunst aus Ägypten, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn, Germany Out of Place, Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon Contemporary Art Platform, London, United Kingdom Talks and video screenings, Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom Petriolina, Moscow Museum of Modern Art, collateral event of the 2nd Moscow Biennale, Moscow, Russia |
| 2006 | Fremd bin ich eingezogen, Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany AYOR: No Man’s Land, Hellenic American Union, Athens, Greece Choosing My Religion, Kunstmuseum Thun, Thun, Switzerland 47th October Art Salon, Belgrade Cultural Center, Belgrade, Serbia Coding: Decoding, Kunsthallen Nikolaj, Copenhagen, Denmark 6th Visual Arts Festival, Kodra Field, Thessaloniki, Greece Outside the Living Room, Gb Agency, Paris, France |
| 2005 | 9th Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul, Turkey Adam, Smart Project Space, Amsterdam, Netherlands Urbane Realitäten: Focus Istanbul, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany Normalization, Platform Granti Contemporary Art Center, Istanbul, Turkey PhotoCairo 3, Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt |
| 2004 | Mediterraneans, MACRO Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Roma, Rome, Italy Meeting Points, Makan House, Amman, Jordan 4th Journées de la Photographie, Centre Culturel Francais de Damas, Damascus, Syria |
| 2003 | 50th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy Les Laboratoires d’Aubervilliers, Aubervilliers, France 24/7: Wilno – Nueva York (visa para), CAC: Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania Video Invitational, FA Projects, London, United Kingdom International Experimental Film Festival, Goethe Institute, Alexandria/Cairo, Egypt Body and the Archive, Artists Space, New York, NY, USA |
| 2002 | Close-Up: An Artistic Collaborative Workshop and Exhibition, Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt |
| 2001 | Rita Longa International Art Symposium, Codema, Bayamo, Cuba Al Nitaq 2nd Festival of Visual Arts, Townhouse Gallery of Contemporary Art, Cairo |
| 2000 | Meyrson Hall Gallery, Philadelphia, USA Al Nitaq 1st Festival of Visual Arts, Tala’t Harb Square, Cairo, Egypt |
| 1997 | Contemporary Egyptian Art, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria |
| 1996 | 6th Cairo Biennale, Museum of Modern Art, Cairo, Egypt |
| 1995 | Al-Hanagar Gallery, Opera House Complex, Cairo, Egypt |
| 1994 | 6th Salon of Youth Akhenaten Centre of Arts, Cairo, Egypt |
Awards & Grants | |
| 2017 | The Honorary Citizenship of the City of Palermo, Italy |
| 2015 | Mario Merz Prize, Turino, Italy |
| 2013 | Louis Vuitton and Kino der Kunst Award for Filmic Oeuvre, Munich, Germany Prize of Sharjah Biennale 11th, for dictums 10:120, Performance , Sharjah, UAE |
| 2012 | Abraaj Capital Art Prize, Dubai, UAE |
| 2011 | Kunstpreis der Schering Stiftung, Kunst-Werke Institute, Berlin, Germany Artist-in-Residence, Center for Possible Studies, Serpentine Gallery, London, United Kingdom |
| 2009 | Grand Prize, 25th Alexandria Biennale, Alexandria, Cairo |
| 2007 | Ford Foundation Grant, Cairo, Egypt |
| 2005 | International Commissioning Grant, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York, USA |
| 2004 | International Award of the Islamic World Arts Initiative, Arts International, New York, USA American Center Foundation Grant, Philadelphia, USA |
| 2001 | Honorary Award, Rita Longa International, Codema, Bayamo, Cuba |
| 2000 | Piero Dorazio Award, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA |
| 1996 | Grand Nile Prize, International Cairo Biennial 6th, Cairo, Egypt |
| 1994 | Grand Akhenaten Prize, Salon of Youth 6th, Akhenaten Centre of Arts, Cairo, Egypt |
Works in Public Collections: | |
| Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA; Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom; 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, United Kingdom; 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 | |
Education | |
| 2017 | Honorary Doctorate (Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa), The Graduate Center, City University of New York, USA |
| 2001 | MFA, Graduate School of Fine Arts, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA |
| 1994 | BFA, Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt |