Biography
Noor Abuarafeh explores imagination and history, focusing on how history is documented, read and perceived as well as the possibility of using imagination and history to predict the future. Relying heavily on personal and public archives, Abuarafeh’s works appear in different mediums, including painting, photography, video, installation and tour performances. Much of her practice centres on text-based works, which she describes as alternative forms of books.
Abuarafeh’s work has been featured internationally in solo and group exhibitions and presentations, including The Moon Is a Sun Returning as a Ghost, Al Ma’mal Foundation for Contemporary Art, Jerusalem (2019); Again, Palestine. Palestinian Women Filmmakers, ZINEBI 16, Balbao, Spain (2019); Pour Elle, Manoir Museum, Martigny, Switzerland (2018); The Last Museum: Museum of all Museums (performance), Mosaic Room, London (2018); Gaudiopolis – The City of Joy, OFF-Biennale Budapest (2017); Sharjah Biennial 13, Sharjah and Ramallah (2017); As if I have never been here before, Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center (KSCC), Ramallah (2017); Palestine In and Out, French Institute, Ramallah (2016); The Gift, Al Ma’mal Foundation for Contemporary Art, Jerusalem (2016); Suspended Accounts, Mosaic Room, London (2016); Cairo Video Festival, Medrar (2014); and YAYA 2014 – Suspended Accounts, A. M. Qattan Foundation, Ramallah (2014).
She has participated in residencies at the Delfina Foundation in collaboration with RCA, London (2018); Chitta Delart, Biella, Italy (2015); Cité internationale des arts, Paris (2013); Tokyo Wonder Site (2012); and Home Workspace Program, Ashkal Alwan, Beirut (2011). In 2014, she received second prize in the Young Artist of the Year Award from the A. M. Qattan Foundation.
Abuarafeh received a BFA from Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem (2011), and a Master of Arts in Public Spheres from the Ecole cantonale d’art du Valais (ECAV), Sierre, Switzerland (2016).
Born in Jerusalem in 1986, she currently lives and works between Cairo and Jerusalem.
SAF participation:
Production Programme 2020
Sharjah Biennial 13