Ahlam Shibli
A voyage to the Notion of Home in the work of Ahlam Shibli
Ahlam Shibli (Palestine, 1970)
Through a documentary aesthetics, Ahlam Shibli’s photographic work addresses the contradictory implications of the notion of home; it deals with the loss of home and the fight against that loss, also with the restrictions and limitations that the idea of home imposes on individuals and communities marked by repressive identity politics.
Her work has been presented, among others, in ICO, Seoul Museum of Art, Fotonoviembre, IVAM, Museum der Moderne Salzburg, MSU, UGM, Remai Modern, S.M.A.K., documenta 14, Cassa di Risparmio, Camera Austria, Carré d’Art, Zachęta, Qalandiya International, Henie Onstad, Muzeum Sztuki, MACBA, Jeu de Paume, Serralves, Reina Sofía, Haus der Kunst, Galeria Kombëtare e Kosovës, 3rd Thessaloniki Biennale, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Tate Modern, Muzeum Sztuki Nowoczesnej w Warszawie, Darat al Funun, KW, CGAC, Pompidou, Documenta 12, Bienal de São Paulo, Kunsthalle Basel, Busan Biennale, Seville Biennial, Istanbul Biennial, T1 Torino Triennale, Yokohama Museum.
Ahlam Shibli is currently artist in residence at LUMA Arles.
Ahlam Shibli, untitled (Occupation no. 15), al-Khalil/Hebron, Palestine, 2016–17, chromogenic print, 40 x 60 cm.
‘Ain al-Qurneh neighborhood, Old Town, al-Khalil, December 20, 2016.
Families use metal barrels and containers filled with stones, debris, and concrete to separate their properties from their neighbors’.
Courtesy of the artist, © Ahlam Shibli
Ahlam Shibli, untitled (Occupation no. 23), al-Khalil/Hebron, Palestine, 2016–17, chromogenic print, 40 x 60 cm.
The house of the Hashem and Nisreen Azzeh family, Othman ben Affan Street, Tel Rumeida, al-Khalil, December 4, 2016.
The three children of Hashem Azzeh—Younis, Khaled, and Hanan—together with their cousin Ahmad. They are watching a technician install a television set, donated by a Danish solidarity delegation. Hashem Azzeh was killed by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on October 21, 2015, poisoned by tear gas that was used in a clash between young Palestinians and Israeli forces.
Courtesy of the artist, © Ahlam Shibli
Ahlam Shibli, al-Qurein (Goter no. 38), al-Naqab, Palestine, 2002–03, gelatine silver print, 38 x 57.7 cm.
Courtesy of the artist, © Ahlam Shibli