Biography
The connection between research and experimentation is fundamental to Mohamed Abdelkarim’s work in video, text, performance and installation. This connection is expressed through storytelling and investigation as he considers a world entangled in power, politics and crisis. Aiming both to produce narratives and expose the way narratives are produced, he examines how performative gestures such as narrating, singing, dancing and doing are perceived and weaves together personal anecdotes and historical events to create a series of non-linear, serendipitous encounters.
Abdelkarim’s work has been exhibited in a number of international solo and group exhibitions, including At the crossroads of different pasts, presents and futures, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy (2018); House of Wisdom│Bilgelik Evi, Dzialdov, Berlin (2017); PhotoCairo 6, Contemporary Image Collective (CIC) (2017); do it بالعربي, Sharjah Art Foundation (2016); Marrakech Biennale 6, Parallel Projects, Morocco (2016); and Biennale Jogja XII Equator #2, Yogyakarta, Indonesia (2016).
He is the recipient of several awards and grants, including the Prix Excellence HES-SO, Switzerland (2016); a production grant from the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC), Beirut (2015); a UNESCO-Aschberg Bursary for Artists (2013); and a production grant from the Young Arab Theatre Fund (YATF), Brussels (2013).
Abdelkarim received a bachelor’s degree in art education from Helwan University, Egypt (2005), and an MA from the Ecole cantonale d’art du Valais, Sierre, Switzerland (2016).
Born in 1983 in El Minya, Egypt, Abdelkarim lives and works in Cairo.
SAF participation:
Production Programme 2020
Sharjah Biennial 11
do it بالعربي (2016)