Basma al-Sharif

Who is Basma al-Sharif?

Basma al-Sharif is a multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker of Palestinian origin. Born in Kuwait, she spent her childhood and early adulthood between the United States and France. She received a MFA from University of Illinois at Chicago in 2007, and attended a residency program at Fondazione Antonio Ratti in 2009 and also the Pavillon Neuflize OBC at the Palais de Tokyo in 2014-15. She lives and works in Berlin.

What defines al-Sharif's work?

Al-Sharif's artistic practice and output have been molded by her lifestyle spent in nomadic wanderings through Chicago, Cairo, Beirut, Sharjah, Amman, Gaza and Paris. Born to Palestinian parents stranded as refugees in Kuwait, al-Sharif has embraced statelessness as a mode of being, marking her art with a longing for a homeland which she is no longer permitted to visit.

Lacking a geographical focus on which to ground her experience, al-Sharif has instead opted to imbue her work with a subjective point of view free of any attachment to a particular location. Throughout her films and video installations, al-Sharif poses questions about the human condition and how changes in geopolitical landscapes affect it. History and space acquire multiple layers and dimensions, as images are viewed through other images, frames are superimposed onto other frames and distinctions between space and time are intertwined.

A large group of people inside a home, all holding and reading a few pieces of white paper. — Basma al-Sharif, *Ouroboros*, 2017. HD video, 16mm, 77 minutes. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Imane Farès.

Where have al-Sharif's works been featured?

Basma al-Sharif has had her works displayed at major exhibitions such as:

Hannah Ryggen Triennal
de Appel Amsterdam
5th edition of Kochi-Muziris Biennale
Ruttenberg Contemporary Photography Series for the Art Institute of Chicago
Modern Mondays at Museum of Modern Art in New York
Whitney Biennial in New York
Berlin Documentary Forum
Manifesta 8

What awards and other recognitions has Basma al-Sharif received?

For her films and video installation which poignantly convey the despair associated with “hereditary sitelessness,” i.e. of forced displacement spanning succeeding generations, al-Sharif has received a variety of awards, prizes, and grants, including: Jury Prize at Sharjah Biennial in 2009; Visual Arts Grant from Fundación Botín in 2010; Mophradat’s Consortium Commissions in 2018. She held a fellowship at the Berlin Artistic Research Grant Programme in 2022-2023. In 2024 she was nominated for the Aware Award.

A grainy film frame with an outstretched hand, with a finger pointing at an ancient fortress in the distance. — Basma al-Sharif, *Deep Sleep*, 2014. HD transfer from super 8mm, 12 min. 37 sec. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Imane Farès.

What projects are al-Sharif involved in?

Basma al-Sharif is preparing for the premiere of her newest short film Morgenkreis/Morning Circle at the Hannah Ryggen Triennale. She is also planning the launch of her first monograph, titled Semi-Nomadic Debt-Ridden Bedouins, published by Lenz in May 2025 as part of a solo show opening at Galerie Imane Farès in Paris. al-Sharif is also participating in the upcoming Gotebörg Biennial.

Where can I find more information about Basma al-Sharif?

Basma al-Sharif maintains a presence on Vimeo and Instagram. She is represented by Galerie Imane Farès in Paris. For more about al-Sharif's thoughts on her art, read the interviews with her in BOMB magazine and The White Review.