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Born in Kuwait (1984), Ibrahim Ahmed spent his childhood between Bahrain and Egypt before moving to the US at the age of thirteen. In 2014, he relocated to Cairo, where he currently lives and works in the informal neighbourhood of Ard El Lewa. Ahmed’s manipulations of material, especially textile, are informed by research into the histories and movements of peoples and objects. His works in mixed media, sculpture, and installation engage with subjects related to colonial legacies, structures of power, cultural interactions, and fluid identity, generating discussion around ideas of the self and notions of authenticity within the parameters of the nation-state.
Ahmed has shown his work in solo exhibitions at the ICA, Richmond (2021); Tintera Gallery, Cairo (2021); Primary, Nottingham (2019); Sara Zanin Gallery, Rome (2018); Gallery Nosco, Marseille (2018); Volta Art Fair, New York (2016); Townhouse Gallery, Cairo (2016); artellewa art space, Giza (2014) and Solo(s) Project House, Newark (2010). His work has also been included in numerous group exhibitions, including at the Sharjah Art Museum, 13th edition of the Biennial of Dakar - Dak'art, 13th Havana Biennial, 4th International Biennial of Casablanca, 12th edition of the Bamako Encounters - African Biennale of Photography.
CV
Born: Kuwait City, Kuwait 1984. Lived in Bahrain, United States, and currently in Egypt.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022
• Patterns Interrupted, Tintera Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
2021
• it will always come back to you, Institute for Contemporary Art, VCU, Richmond, Virginia
• I never revealed myself to them, Tintera Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
2019
• Does Anybody Leave Heaven?, Primary, Nottingham, England
2018
• Burn What Needs to Be Burned, Sara Zanin Gallery, Rome, Italy
• Along Those Lines, Gallery Nosco, Marseille , France
2016
• Something I Can Feel, Gallery Nosco / Volta Art Fair, NYC, NY
• Pressing Fallacies, Townhouse West, Cairo, Egypt
2014
• The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, Artellewa Art Space, Ard El Lewa, Giza, Egypt
2010
• In the Shade of Light, Solo(s) Project House, Newark, NJ
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
• Eyes Closed Everything You See Is Yours, Goethe Institut & Access Art Space, Cairo, Egypt
• Initiations, Sonja Haynes Stone Center, UNC Chapel Hill, NC, USA
• Approche 7th Edition, Paris, France
• Points of Resonance, Cairo, Egypt
2023
• The Rencontres d’Arles associates / Louis Roederer Discovery Award, Arles, France
• Approche 7th Edition, Paris, France
• Points of Resonance, Cairo, Egypt
2022
• Jaou Photo 6th Edition, Jaou Tunis & Kamel Lazaar Foundation, Tunis, Tunisia
• Play of Manners, Galerie Balice Hertling, Paris, France
2021
• Photo London Fair, Tintera Gallery, London, UK
• The Dark Side of the Moon Brought to Light, Les Rencontres De Bamako, Territo'Arts, Reunion Island
2020
• Home Museum, LagosPhoto Festival, The Photographic Collective, Lagos, Nigeria
• Eternal Light, Art D'Egypte, Tintera Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
• Photo London Fair, Tintera Gallery, London, UK
• Sharing Our Dreaming Room, Sara Zanin Gallery, Rome, Italy
2019
• Traces, Museo Civico Medievale di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
• Bamako Encounters 12th Edition - African Biennale of Photography, Bamako, Mali
• 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, Gallery Nosco, London, UK
• The Road Map to Renaissance, Darb 1718, Cairo, Egypt
• After the Canal, there was only ‘our’ World , Mestna Galerija, The Museum & Galleries of the City of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
• Reimagined Narratives, Arte D’Egypte, Cairo, Egypt
• The Construction of the possible, 13th Havana Biennial, Havana Cuba
2018
• Stories from the Water's Edge, 4th International Biennial of Casablanca, Casablanca, Morocco
• The Red Hour, Biennale de Dakar 13th Edition, Dakar, Senegal
• Artissima, Piero Atchugarry Gallery, Torino, Italy
• 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, Gallery Nosco, London, UK
• ArtVerona, Sara Zanin Gallery, Verona, Italy
• ZONAMACO, Gallery Nosco, Mexico City, Mexico
2017
• Universal Belonging, Prizm Art Fair, Miami, FL, USA
• MEDITERRANEAN FOCUS, Swab Art Fair, Barcelona, Spain
2016
• Architecture, Islamic Art Festival, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE
• ICONIC CITY: CAIRO NOW! CITY INCOMPLETE, Dubai Design District, Dubai, UAE
• Jameco Exchange, No Longer Empty, Queens, NY, USA
2015
• Light, Islamic Art Festival, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE
• ArtRio Art Fair, Gallery Nosco, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
• On the Inner and Outer Self, Openings Collective, NYC, NY, USA
• Beyond the Lines, artellewa, Zamalek, Egypt
2014
• Center for Contemporary Art, Juror Evonne Davis, Bedminster, NJ, USA
• Process, Anonymous Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Muscle Memory, Freeman Space, Brooklyn, NY, USA
2013
• Windows@Walsh, Walsh Gallery at Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ, USA
• Building Bridges, Fundación Rozenblum, Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Newark Art & Artists: Prints, Photographs & Works on Paper, Newark Public Library, Newark NJ, USA
• Four by Four, Aferro Gallery, Newark, NJ, USA
• EMO Show, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, NYC, NY, USA
2012
• Center for Contemporary Art, Juror Edwin Ramoran, Bedminster, NJ, USA
• Four by Four, Printmaking Center of NJ, Branchburg, NJ, USA
• ArtReach XIX, City Without Walls, Newark, NJ, USA
• Solo(s) Project House at Fountain Art Fair, Armory Show, NYC, NY, USA
2011
• ArtReachXX, City Without Walls, Newark, NJ, USA
• The Newark School, City Without Walls, Newark, NJ, USA
• One-Two Punch, Ramapo College, Mahwah, NJ, USA
2010
• South Asian Women’s Creative Collective, 4th Annual Art Auction Benefit New York, NYC, NY, USA
• Window Spaces, Atlantic Assets Pop Up Space, Brooklyn, NY
• Vessel, Rupert Ravens Contemporary, Newark, NJ, USA
• ArtReach XVII, City Without Walls, Newark, NJ, USA
• The Art of Politics, Columbia University, NYC, NY, USA
RELATED EXPERIENCE
2012
• Senior Muralist, “It’s Just a Little Rain (Mural #4)”, City Without Walls, Newark, NJ, USA
2011
• Exhibition Committee, Aferro Gallery, Newark, NJ, USA
LECTURES & SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
2013
• Guest Speaker, Hudson County Community College Foundation (In conjunction with the American Library Association and the National Endowment for the Humanities), Jersey City,
2011
• Artist Conversation: One-Two Punch, Ramapo College, Mahwah, NJ, USA
• Guest Speaker, Rutgers Future Scholars, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA
2010
• Solo(s) Speaks: “In the Shade of Light,” Solo(s) Project House, Newark, NJ, USA
2009
• Guest Speaker, Intro to Modern Art, Howard University, Washington D.C., USA
RESIDENCIES
2014
• Artist in Residence, Artellewa Art Space, Ard El Lewa, Giza, Egypt
2012
• Artist in Residence, Gallery Aferro, Newark, NJ, USA
• Collaborative Editions Project Residency, Printmaking Center of NJ, Branchburg, NJ, USA
AWARDS & HONORS
2023
• Merit Award, SAIC, Chicago IL, USA
2022
• Foam Paul Huf Nominee
• Magnum Foundation's Counter Histories Initiative Nominee
2020
• Shortlisted for the Emerging Photographer of the Year Award 2020, in partnership with Nikon Northern Europe, Photo London Fair, London, UK
2012
• 2nd Prize, Center for Contemporary Art, Bedminster, NJ, USA
2011
• Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant Nominee
COLLECTIONS
• Kamel Lazaar Foundation, Tunis, Tunisia
• Museum of Old and New Art, Berriedale, Australia
• Newark Public Library Special Collection, NJ, USA
• Hudson County Community College Foundation Art Collection, NJ, USA
• The Printmaking Center of New Jersey Collection, NJ, USA
PRESS
https://brooklynrail.org/2021/09/artseen/Ibrahim-Ahmed-It-Will-Always-Come-Back-to-You
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1904066/lifestyle
https://contemporaryand.com/exhibition/ibrahim-ahmed-it-will-always-come-back-to-you/
Camera Austria International (Publication): What’s at Stake / What’s Missing?
https://www.contemporaryand.com/magazines/the-artists-censored-speak-out/
https://www.contemporaryand.com/exhibition/ibrahim-ahmed-burn-what-needs-to-be-burned/
https://www.al-fanarmedia.org/2018/09/egyptian-artist-explores-themes-of-identity-and-belonging/
http://www.brooklynrail.org/2016/02/artseen/letter-from-cairo-ibrahim-ahmed-pressing-fallacies
http://www.okayafrica.com/culture-2/ibrahim-ahmed-cairo-art-story/
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/editors-picks-may-23-2016-502970
http://www.nj.com/entertainment/arts/index.ssf/2011/02/cwow_introduces_a_second_gener.html