Biography

Ehab Ellaban is a curator, cultural operator and sculptor whose creative practice includes contemporary sculpture often conceptualised for public open space commissions.

Among his curatorial projects are the 11th, 12th and 13th Cairo Biennales (2008, 2010, 2019, respectively); When Art Becomes Liberty: The Egyptian Surrealists (1938–1965), National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (2017); 25 Years of Arab Creativity, Institut du monde arabe (IMA), Paris (2012); and Still Valid, A Selection of Contemporary Egyptian Art Practices, Sharjah Art Gallery of the American University in Cairo (2011).

He is currently Director of the Arts Center, Aicha Fahmi Palace, Egypt. He has previously served as Director of Ofok Gallery, Egypt, where he organised several international exhibitions, including Chema Madoz (2007); Alf Leila We Leila (2006); Contemporary Spanish Art Selections from Alicante (2006); Italian Author’s Book and Artist’s Graphic (2006); Contemporary Italian Art Exhibition (2005); and Nuevas Tendencias Photografia (2005.

Ellaban holds a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the University of Cairo (2000).

He was born in 1976 in Cairo, where he continues to live and work.

SAF participation:
March Meeting 2021
When Art Becomes Liberty: The Egyptian Surrealists (1938–1965)(2016–2017)
The Egyptian Surrealists in Global Perspective(conference in Cairo co-organised by SAF, 2015)

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