Jordanian multi-disciplinary artist (born in 1974, Kuwait).
She lives and works in Amman.
Artist’s statement
Ala Younis is a research-based artist. Collaboration forms a big part of her practice, as do curating and joint book projects. Using objects, film and printed matter, Younis often seeks instances where historical and political events collapse into personal ones. She also has explored the formation of the modern Arab world and the potential for renewed thought and action the era continues to inspire. She holds a BSc. in Architecture from University of Jordan and MRes in Visual Cultures from Goldsmiths, University of London. She is a recipient of the Bellagio Creative Arts Fellowship, as well as awards from Cairo Youth Salon (2005) and Jordanian Artists Association (2005). She is co-founder of the publishing initiative Kayfa ta, on the advisory board of Berlinale’s Forum Expanded, and member of the Academy of Arts of the World (Cologne).
Education
1997 BSc. in Architecture from University of Jordan
2016 MRes in Visual Cultures from Goldsmiths, University of London
Solo Exhibitions
High Dam. Modern Pyramid, curated byRado Ištok, VI PER, Prague [16.12.2020–6.2.2021]
Steps Toward the Impossible, curated by Ryan Inouye, Sharjah Art Foundation, [29.9.2018–5.1.2019]
Research Room at Studio-X, Columbia GSAPP, Amman [3.10.2018–4.6.2019]
Plan (fem.) for Greater Baghdad, 17ESSEX, New York [21.4–2.6.2018]
Solo exhibition, Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Seville [15.2–10.6.2018]
Plan for Feminist Greater Baghdad, Delfina Foundation, London [31.1–24.3.2018]; Project Space Art Jameel, Dubai [1.3–14.4.2018]
A second original after several conversions, MMAG Foundation, Amman, [1.11.2017–20.1.2018]
UAR, solo exhibition at Gypsum Gallery, Cairo [2014]
Nefertiti, solo exhibition at Delfina Foundation, London [2010]
Solo exhibition at Darat al Funun, Amman [2009]
Solo exhibition at Institut Français, Amman [2005]
Group Exhibitions
2021
What Makes Another World Possible?, curated by Corina L. Apostol, Tallinn Art Hall, Tallinn [18.09–05.12.2021]
Limitless [SIN LIMITES: Artistic (de)construction of the Borders], curated by Khalid Khreis and Rocío Villalonga, Museo del Revellín de Ceuta (Revellín Museum of Ceuta) [8.4–10.6.2021] [catalog]
Video exhibited as part of the March program of aashra, Ashkal Alwan’s audiovisual streaming platform, Beirut
2020
Publishing As Method, curated by Mediabus / The Book Society, Art Sonje Center 1F Project Space, Seoul [30.10–20.12.2020] [catalog]
Last Flood, exhibition with Alia Mosallam, Contemporary Image Collective, Cairo [postponed due to Covid-19 disruptions]
Limitless [SIN LIMITES: Artistic (de)construction of the Borders], curated by Khalid Khreis and Rocío Villalonga, Casa Arabe, Madrid, [11.3–17.5.2020]; Casa Arabe, Cordoba [15.10.2020–4.1.2021] [catalog]
2019
Theater of Operations: The Gulf Wars 1991–2011, curated by Peter Eleey and Ruba Katrib, MoMA PS1, NYC [3.11.2019–2.2020]
On fail[l]ed tales and ta[y]lors, curated by Madrassa Collective, Tabakalera, International Centre for Contemporary Culture, San Sebastian [9.11.2019–16.2.2020]
This Land’s Unknown, second edition of the Biennale d’Architecture d’Orléans, curated by Nora Akawi [11.10.2019-19.1.2020]
History Is Not Here: Art and the Arab Imaginary, Minnesota Museum of American Art (The M), curated by Heba Y. Amin and Maymanah Farhat [12.9.2019–5.1.2020]
The Whole Life: Archives and Reality, Kunsthalle im Lipsiusbau, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, co-organized by Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art and Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), Dresden [19–25.5.2019]
ANTIKINO (The Siren’s Echo Chamber), curated by Stefanie Schulte Strathaus, Anselm Franke, Maha Maamoun, and Ulrich Ziemons, Berlinale’s Forum Expanded show, silent green Betonhalle, Berlin [7.2–9.3.2019]
This Must Be True, curated by Mario D’Souza, Mila Samdub and Radha Mahendru, KHOJ International Artists’ Association, New Delhi [28.1–11.3.2019]
2018
Crude, curated by Murtaza Vali, Art Jameel Centre, Dubai [11.11.2018–30.3.2019]
Punk Orientalism, curated by Sara Raza, MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Canada [10.11.2018–17.2.2019]
Behind the Screen, curated by Stefanie Schulte Strathaus in the context of Tashweesh (Goethe-Institut Cairo), Medrar for Contemporary Art, Cairo [6–27.11.2018]
Submerged – on rivers and their interrupted flow, Contemporary Image Collective, Cairo [9.10–15.12.2018]
Imagined Nations / Modern Utopias, 12 Gwangju Biennale, curated by Clara Kim, Gwangju [7.9–11.11.2018]
Power Play, curated by Aaron Cezar, SongEun Artspace, Seoul [30.8–1.12.2018]
Truth is black, write over it with a mirage’s light, Darat al Funun, Amman [3.7–4.10.2018]
In the Margin, The Factory, Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman [28.6–3.11.2018]
Bagdad Mon Amour, curated by Morad Montazami, Institut des Cultures d’Islam, Paris [29.3–29.7.2018]
Riots: Slow Cancellation of the Future, curated by Natasha Ginwala, ifa-Galerie Berlin [26.1–1.4.2018]; ifa-Galerie Stuttgart [27.4–24.6.2018]
A Mechanism Capable of Changing Itself, Berlinale’s Forum Expanded, Akademie der Künste, Berlin
2017
Tell It to the Stones. The Work of Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub, curated by Annett Busch and Tobias Hering, Akademie der Künste, Berlin, [14.9–19.11.2017]
New Literacy, 4th Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art, Ekaterinburg, [14.9–12.11.2017]
Suspended Territories Artists from Middle East and North Africa, curated by Michael Kroeger, Marta Herford, Herford, [24.6–24.9.2017]
No to the Invasion: Breakdowns and Side Effects, exhibition of works drawn from the collection of the Barjeel Art Foundation, curated by Fawz Kabra, CCS Bard Galleries, NY, [24.6–29.10.2017]
Imagined Life In a Museum Vitrine, 4th Chapter of “If Not For That Wall”, Contemporary Image Collective, Cairo, [3.5–22.6.2017]
House of Wisdom, curated by Collective Çukurcuma, Dzialdov project space, Berlin, [29.4–4.6.2017]; Nejat Eczacıbaşı Building, within the scope of the 15th Istanbul Biennial’s Public Programme, Istanbul, [12.9–12.11.2017]; Framer Framed, Amsterdam, [24.11.2017–7.1.2018]
2016
VIII Tashkent Biennale, Tashkent [cancelled]
Under Arms: Fire & Forget 2, Museum Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt [10.9.2016–26.3.2017]
But a Storm Is Blowing from Paradise: Contemporary Art of the Middle East and North Africa, curated by Sara Raza, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York [29.4–5.10]
Do it بالعربي, curated by Hoor Al Qasimi and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah [23.1–23.4] and Darat al Funun, The Khalid Shoman Foundation, Amman [24.9.2016–Mid January 2017]
Transcultural Flux, Stiftelsen 3,14, Bergen [22.1–20.3]
Transcultural Flux, Akershus Kunstsenter, Lillestrøm [12.5–12.6]
2015
All the World’s Futures, 56th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, curated by Okwui Enwezor, Venice
Fire and Forget. On Violence, curated by Ellen Blumenstein and Daniel Tyradellis, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin
The Current State of Experimental Cinema, curated by Aily Nash, Cine Tonala, Mexico
2014
MADATAC 06, Contemporary Festival of New Media Arts & Advanced Audio Visual Technologies, Madrid
New York Film Festival, New York
Here and Elsewhere, exhibition curated by Massimiliano Gioni and team, New Museum, New York. Participation took the form of a curated exhibition at the 5th floor titled An Index of Tensional and Unintentional Love of Land
Multitude, Sesc Pompeia, Sao Paulo- Tea with Nefertiti, Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst, Munich
Meeting Points 7, Ten thousand wiles and a hundred thousand tricks, Contemporary Image Collective, Cairo; ParaSite, Hong Kong; Beirut Art Center, Beirut
2013
Meeting Points 7, Ten thousand wiles and a hundred thousand tricks, curated by What, How and for Whom/WHW, Gallery Nova, Teslina 7, Zagreb; Museum of Modern Art (M HKA), Antwerp
Tea with Nefertiti, IVAM Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno, Valencia (catalog)
Le Théorème de Néfertiti, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris
59th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Lichtburg Filmpalast, Oberhausen
2012
Tea with Nefertiti, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha
ROUNDTABLE, 9th Gwangju Biennial, curated by Nancy Adajania
The Ungovernables, exhibition curated by Eunjie Joo, New Museum Triennial, New York
Amman Journal, Forum Schlossplatz, Aarau, curated by Sibylle Omlin
A Gathering, curated by Maria-Thalia Carras and Olga Hatzidaki, Athens London Palestine Film Festival, London
2011
Untitled (12th Istanbul Biennial), curated by Adriano Pedrosa and Jens Hoffman, Istanbul
24th Instants Video Festival, in collaboration with Transitio Festival, Mexico
Houston Palestine Film Festival, Houston, TX
Dream of a Nation Film Festival, Columbia University, NYC
Toronto Palestine Film Festival, Toronto
2010
Home Works 5’, forum and exhibition curated by Christine Tohme, Beirut Art Center, Beirut
2009
Where are you?, exhibition curated by Beate Keinert-Engel, Townhouse Gallery, Cairo
The Jerusalem Show: Jerusalem Syndrome, curated by Jack Persekian and Nina Möntmann, Jerusalem
All Art Now 1st International Video Art Festival, 11 different venues in Damascus
A Starting Point: Intrude 366—Dynamics of change and growth, from 1, Jan. to 31, Dec, 2008, Zendai MoMA, Shanghai, China
PhotoCairo 4: The Long Shortcut, Museet for Fotokunst, Odense
2008
PhotoCairo 4: The Long Shortcut, curated by Aleya Hamza and Edit Molnar, Hungarian Cultural Center, Cairo – Intrude: Art & Life 366, Shanghai Juvenile Prison, Shanghai
The Third International Biennale for the Artist’s Book 2008, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria
2006
12th Asian Art Biennale, Shilpakala Academy, Dhaka
2005
17th Youth Salon, Palace of Arts, Opera Complex, Cairo
Awards/Grants/Artist in residences
2021 Fellowship, Akademie der Künste der Welt, Cologne.
2021 Fellowship, Civitella Ranieri Fellowship, Umbertide [postponed to 2022]
2015 Jury member, Forum Expanded – Think:Film Award, with Karim Aïnouz, Ala Younis, and Mohamed Beshir
2015 Residency, Delfina Foundation, London
2015 Residency, Cimatheque: Alternative Film Center, Cairo
2015 Mentored two participants in the March Project, production and workshops program at Sharjah Art Foundation
2014 Jury member, Forum Expanded – Think:Film Award, with Marcel Schwierin, Ala Younis, and Mohamed Beshir
2013 Residency and fellowship, Bellagio Creative Arts Fellowship, The Rockefeller Foundation, Bellagio
2013 Jury member, Short Films category, Oran Film Festival, Algeria, with Ridha Behi, Karim Sargouh, Samia Méziane, Doaa Teama and Ala Younis
2012 Residency, Living Archive – Archive Work as a Contemporary Artistic and Curatorial Practice, Arsenal – Institut für Film und Videokunst, Berlin, with a grant from Goethe Institut
2011 Residency, La Galerie, Contemporary Art Centre, Noisy-le-Sec / Paris
2011 Residency, Ashkal Alwan, Beirut
2010 Residency, Accented Residencies, Delfina Foundation, London
2008 Residency, Digital Residencies, Contemporary Image Collective, Cairo
2007 Residency, F+F School of Art & Media Design, Zürich
2005 Award, Second prize for non-Egyptian participants, 17th Youth Salon, Cairo
Award, Third Prize at the Annual Exhibition of the Jordanian Artists Association, Amman
