Basma al-Sharif
Les Barbares - Installation - 2023
presented as part of the exhibition Panorama 25
Les Barbares invites the viewer to gather around a table to listen to the story of a train journey that moves backwards in time to reveal what has always been there. Following train lines that existed prior to the creation of the state of Israel from Lebanon, through Palestine, that ends in Egypt, the tale unfolds as a visceral exploration of borders both geographical and physical. Accompanied by a large-scale photograph that reflects on colonial archives and voyeurism, Les Barbares is an absurd, defiant celebration of ignorance.
Basma al-Sharif
Basma al-Sharif is a Palestinian artist working in cinema and installation.
She developed her practice nomadically between the Middle East, Europe, and North America and is currently based in Berlin. Her practice looks at cyclical political conflicts and confronts the legacy of colonialism through satirical, immersive, and lyrical works.
Basma received an MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2007, was a resident of the Fondazione Antonio Ratti in 2009 and the Pavillon Neuflize OBC at the Palais de Tokyo in 2014--15. She won a Jury prize at the Sharjah Biennial in 2009, the Visual Arts Grant from the Fundación Botín in 2010, Mophradat's Consortium Commissions in 2018 and is currently a fellow of the Berliner Förderprogramm Künstlerische Forschung for 2022--23.
Basma al-Sharif's major exhibitions include the Ruttenberg Contemporary Photography Series for the Art Institute of Chicago, Modern Mondays at MoMA, CCA Glasgow, the Whitney Biennial, Here and Elsewhere at the New Museum, Berlin Documentary Forum, and Manifesta 8. Her films have screened in the international film festivals of Locarno, Berlin, Mar del Plata, Milan, London, Toronto, New York, Montreal, and Yamagata amongst others. Basma's work is distributed by Video Data Bank and represented by Galerie Imane Farès in Paris.
