Walid Al Wawi is a Jordanian Palestinian-native, working in painting, performance, video and installation. He received critical acclaim for his academic and purest approach to objects and physical documentation that dialogue with the political and cultural identity of the Palestinian body in diaspora, it’s implication on the post colonialist dream of pan Arabism and vice versa.
In 2011 Al Wawi was awarded The Shiekha Manal Young Artist Award, followed by a scholarship from the Shiekh Salama Art Fellowship which earned him his masters degree in Fine Arts by Central Saint Martins, University of Arts London. Through out his practice Walid has had solo exhibitions at Art16 London, DUCTAC, and JamJar in Dubai; group shows at Jameel Art Center UAE, Darat Al Funun Jordan, Qattan Art Foundation Palestine, MMCA Seoul, XX Bienal Santa Cruz, FIAC France, Incubarte Spain, Abudhabi Art and Art Dubai UAE; and was a resident with The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in South Korea.
Al Wawi’s most recent project titled “The Embassy of Unofficial Palestine”, commissioned by the Qattan Art Foundation, the EOUP is a paper architecture project of a non-profit, non-political space that wishes to exist as a place of human relief and community dialogue for Palestinian refugees residing outside of the PLO and UNRWA jurisdiction. The EOUP is a part of Walid’s ongoing research tackling the geopolitics of the Palestinian body, and it’s biological state’s durational effect on cultural identity, economical retirement and geographic burials, showcasing a commitment to produce larger global understanding of the crisis of Palestinian refugees in the Middle East, especially those disregarded from international aid and humanitarian dialogues.
Walid is the founder of “Samt for Art and Research” a virtual foundation that manifests primarily in a digital format through Samt.co. Its strict online presence is set to further its goal of democratising art accessibility and pushing the boundaries of the physically confined white space to a more contemporary and digital approach; opening the receptivity of art and discourse from Southwestern Asia and North Africa to an international audience from all regions with no geo-political restrictions on humans or art.
Since it’s establishment through Samt, Walid mentored and curated the works of numerous aspiring artists from the MENA and collaborated with the Tate Exchange, Darat AlFunun and many other renowned galleries and foundations around the globe.
In 2011 Al Wawi was awarded The Shiekha Manal Young Artist Award, followed by a scholarship from the Shiekh Salama Art Fellowship which earned him his masters degree in Fine Arts by Central Saint Martins, University of Arts London. Through out his practice Walid has had solo exhibitions at Art16 London, DUCTAC, and JamJar in Dubai; group shows at Jameel Art Center UAE, Darat Al Funun Jordan, Qattan Art Foundation Palestine, MMCA Seoul, XX Bienal Santa Cruz, FIAC France, Incubarte Spain, Abudhabi Art and Art Dubai UAE; and was a resident with The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in South Korea.
Al Wawi’s most recent project titled “The Embassy of Unofficial Palestine”, commissioned by the Qattan Art Foundation, the EOUP is a paper architecture project of a non-profit, non-political space that wishes to exist as a place of human relief and community dialogue for Palestinian refugees residing outside of the PLO and UNRWA jurisdiction. The EOUP is a part of Walid’s ongoing research tackling the geopolitics of the Palestinian body, and it’s biological state’s durational effect on cultural identity, economical retirement and geographic burials, showcasing a commitment to produce larger global understanding of the crisis of Palestinian refugees in the Middle East, especially those disregarded from international aid and humanitarian dialogues.
Walid is the founder of “Samt for Art and Research” a virtual foundation that manifests primarily in a digital format through Samt.co. Its strict online presence is set to further its goal of democratising art accessibility and pushing the boundaries of the physically confined white space to a more contemporary and digital approach; opening the receptivity of art and discourse from Southwestern Asia and North Africa to an international audience from all regions with no geo-political restrictions on humans or art.
Since it’s establishment through Samt, Walid mentored and curated the works of numerous aspiring artists from the MENA and collaborated with the Tate Exchange, Darat AlFunun and many other renowned galleries and foundations around the globe.