Wael Shawky

Wael Shawky (born 1971) is an Egyptian artist working between Alexandria and Philadelphia. Shawky gained international recognition for his works that trace the history of the Crusades through a Middle Eastern lens. Shawky has won many awards and prizes for his work, including the Ernst Schering Foundation Art Award in 2011 and the Mario Merz Prize for his film trilogy, Al Araba Al Madfuna. He is represented by Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Galleria Lia Rumma and Lisson Gallery.

Early life and education Shawky was born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1971 and spent his youth in Mecca, Saudia before returning to Egypt when he was 13. He holds an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania and a BFA from Alexandria University.

Career

Based on extensive periods of research and enquiry, Wael Shawky’s work tackles notions of national, religious and artistic identity through film, performance and storytelling. Shawky frames contemporary culture through the lens of historical tradition and vice versa. Mixing truth and fiction, childlike wonder and spiritual doctrine, Shawky has staged epic recreations of the medieval clashes between Muslims and Christians in his trilogy of puppets and marionettes. In 2012 he exhibited at dOCUMENTA (13) in Kassel, Germany where he premiered the second part of Cabareh Crusades (The Path to Cairo). In 2013, he created a live performance piece for the Sharjah Biennial from his 'Dictums' series, where 30 workers (primarily of Pakistani descent) sing a song in qawwali, a form of Sufi devotional music In 2010, Shawky launched MASS Alexandria, the first independent studio programme for young artists in Alexandria, Egypt.

In his film trilogy Cabaret Crusades, Wael takes as his subject the complex historical and sociopolitical narratives surrounding the Christian Holy Wars. Cabaret Crusades consists of three films: The Horror Show File, The Path to Cairo, and The Secrets of Karbala, loosely inspired by Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf's The Crusades Through Arab Eyes. Shawky's films depict various historical accounts in an attempt to provide and illustrate an Arab perspective on the Crusades (from 1095 to 1204). All the characters in Shawky's three films are played by marionettes and feature Classical Arabic. The second episode, The Path to Cairo, featured marionettes made of clay – a material believed to be what humans are made of according to the Qu'ran.

In 2016, Shawky had solo shows at the Kunsthaus Bregenz in Austria and the Fondazione Merz and Castello di Rivoli, both in Turin, Italy. In 2014, Serpentine Galleries in London held a solo exhibition of his work. Shawky's works can be found in numerous public collections, most notably the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), in New York City, US, the National Gallery of Canada, in Ottawa, Canada, and the Tate Collection, in London, UK. He is represented by Lisson Gallery.

In 2017, Wael Shawky premiered 'Song of Roland: The Arabic Version' at the opening of the theater festival Theater der Welt in Hamburg, Germany. The large musical and theatrical installation translates the epic French verse 'La Chanson de Roland' (Song of Roland) into classic Arabic and features performances by 25 fidjeri singers.

In 2017, Shawky undertook a residency at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, in partnership with the Fire Station, in Doha, Qatar, where he conducted research for his first feature-length film on the history of oil production in the Persian Gulf. Filming for the project began in 2018.

In 2024, Shawky was selected to represent Egypt at the 60th Venice Biennale.

In November 2024, Shawky was appointed as the first artistic director of the Fire Station in Doha.

Exhibitions

2025 Telematch And Other Stories, Barakat Contemporary, Seoul, South Korea 2025 Drama 1882, Talbot Rice Gallery, ECA, Edinburgh, UK 2025 Drama 1882, The Geffen Contemporary, MOCA, Los Angeles, California, USA 2024 Egyptian Pavillon, La Biennale Di Venezia 2024 (forthcoming) 2023 I Am Hymns of the New Temples, Pompeii Archaeological Park, Pompeii, Italy 2023 In the Heart of Another Country: The Diasporic Imagination Rises, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE 2023 Alexandria: Past Futures, MUCEM, Marseille, France 2023 MACBA Collection. Prelude. Poetic Intention, MACBA, Barcelona, Spain 2023 In The Heart of Another Country, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Germany 2022 Dry Culture Wet Culture, Museum Leuven, Belgium 2022 Cabaret Crusades: The Horror Show File, Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom Alexandria: Past Futures, Bozar Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels, Belgium 2021 FOCUS: Wael Shawky, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas, USA 2019 Al Araba Al Madfuna, The Polygon Gallery, Vancouver, Canada 2019 Gohyang: Home, SeMA, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea 2019 Look for Me All Around You, Sharjah Biennial 14, Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE 2018 The Crusades and Current Stories, ARoS, Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Aarhus, Denmark 2018 Crude, Jameel Arts Center, Dubai, UAE 2018 Beyond Borders, Boghossian Foundation, Brussels, Belgium 2018 Wael Shawky, Lia Rumma Gallery, Naples, Italy 2018 Cabaret Crusades, Gangwon international BIENNALE, Korea 2018 Al Araba Al Madfuna III, Galerie Sfeir-Semler, Hamburg, Germany 2018 The Song of Roland: The Arabic Version, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates 2018 The Song of Roland: The Arabic Version, The Theater an der Wien, The Opera House, Vienna, Austria 2018 Al Araba Al Madfuna III, St. Elmo Exam Center, Valletta, Malta 2017 Al Araba Al Madfuna, Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Yinchaun, China 2017 The Song of Roland: The Arabic Version, Theatre de Welt, Kampnagel, Hamburg, Germany 2017 The Song of Roland: The Arabic Version, Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam, Holland Festival, Amsterdam, Holland 2017 The Song of Roland: The Arabic Version, Onasis cultural center, Athens, Greece 2017 Focus on Wael Shawky, Onasis Cultural Center, Athens, Greece 2017 Focus on Wael Shawky, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece 2017 Cabaret Crusades: The Path to Cairo, Palazzo Branciforte, Palermo, Sicily 2017 Al Araba Al Madfuna III, Saints Euno and Giuliano Church, Palermo, Sicily 2017 Cabaret Crusades trilogy screening, Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago, USA 2016 Cabaret Crusades, Castello di Rivoli, Turin, Italy 2016 Al Araba Al Madfuna, Fondazione Merz, Turin, Italy 2016 Wael Shawky, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Bregenz, Austria 2016 Wael Shawky, Al Araba Al Madfuna III, Fondazione Merz, Zurich, Switzerland 2016 Wael Shawky. Drawing, Lisson Gallery, Milan, Italy 2015 Cabaret Crusades: The Secrets of Karbala, Sfeir Semler Karantina, Beirut, Lebanon. 2015 Cabaret Crusades, MoMA PS1, New York, USA 2015 Crusades and Other Stories, MATHAF: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar 2015 Cabaret Crusades trilogy screenings, Palais Royal – Musée du Louvre, Paris, France 2014 Cabaret Crusades, K20 Museum: Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf, Germany 2014 Al Araba Al Madfuna II, Festwochen-Zentrum im Künstlerhaus, Vienna, Austria 2014 Horsemen Adore Perfumes and Other Stories, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates 2014 Dictums, Lisson Gallery, London, United Kingdom 2013 al-Qurban/The Offering, Serpentine Gallery, London, United Kingdom 2013 Cabaret Crusades, Ludwig Forum, Aachen, Germany 2013 Cabaret Crusades: The Horror Show File, The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA, USA 2013 Wael Shawky, Art Gallery of York University, Toronto, Canada 2013 Cabaret Crusades: The Path to Cairo, Pinault Collection, Teatrino Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy 2012 Al Araba Al Madfuna, KW: Kunst-Werke Institute, Berlin, Germany 2011 Wael Shawky, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, United Kingdom 2011 Drawings and Flags from Cabaret Crusades, Walker Art Gallery, National Museums, Liverpool, UK 2011 Larvae Channel, Delfina Foundation, London, UK 2010 Contemporary Myths, Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto, Biella, Italy 2010 Contemporary Myths II, Sfeir-Semler Karantina, Beirut, Lebanon 2009 Larvae Channel 2, Project Gentili, Berlin, Germany 2009 Clean History, Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt 2009 Wael Shawky, Darat al Funun, Amman, Jordan 2007 Then you will return to me and I will judge between you in the matters in which you used to dispute, Kunsthalle Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland 2007 Digital Church, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh, United Kingdom 2007 The Forty Days Road, Wet Culture – Dry Culture, Galeria Sztuki Wspolczesnej, Bunkier Sztuki, Krakow, Poland 2007 Al Aqsa Park, YAMA, digital screen on top of Marmara Hotel, Istanbul, Turkey 2007 Telematch Sadat/Telematch Market/Al Aqsa Park, Koninklijke Vlaamse Schouwburg, Brussels, Belgium 2007 Telematch Sadat/Al Aqsa Park, Hebbel am Ufer 3, Berlin, Germany 2007 Telematch Sadat, San Matteo Church, Lucca, Italy 2006 Drawings 1998–2006, Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt 2005 The Green Land Circus, Factory Space, Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt 2005 Wael Shawky, Ludwigsburg Kunstverein, Ludwigsburg, Germany 2003 Asphalt Quarter, Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt 2002 When he decided to visit the Christmas village, Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt 2001 Transitions, Ashkal Alwan, Beirut, Lebanon 2001 Sidi El Asphalt’s Moulid, Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt

Awards

2017 The Honorary Citizenship of the City of Palermo, Italy 2015 Mario Merz Prize, Turino, Italy 2013 Louis Vuitton and Kino der Kunst Award for Filmic Oeuvre, Munich, Germany 2013 Prize of Sharjah Biennale 11th, for dictums 10:120, Performance, Sharjah, UAE 2012 Abraaj Capital Art Prize, Dubai, UAE 2011 Kunstpreis der Schering Stiftung, Kunst-Werke Institute, Berlin, Germany 2011 Artist-in-Residence, Center for Possible Studies, Serpentine Gallery, London, United Kingdom 2009 Grand Prize, 25th Alexandria Biennale, Alexandria, Cairo 2007 Ford Foundation Grant, Cairo, Egypt 2005 International Commissioning Grant, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York, USA 2004 International Award of the Islamic World Arts Initiative, Arts International, New York, USA 2004 American Center Foundation Grant, Philadelphia, USA 2001 Honorary Award, Rita Longa International, Codema, Bayamo, Cuba 2000 Piero Dorazio Award, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA 1996 Grand Nile Prize, International Cairo Biennial 6th, Cairo, Egypt 1994 Grand Akhenaten Prize, Salon of Youth 6th, Akhenaten Centre of Arts, Cairo, Egypt