Personal Info
- Country of residence: Iraq
Information
Sama Al-Shaibi, also known as
“Basma Rene Al-Shaibi”, was born in 1973 in Basra, Iraq. She is a graphic
artist (video art, photography, installation of media tools), through which she
always discusses the voids of conflict, as a basic topic. War, exile, power, and
the attempt to survive are usually topics. presented in her art. In most of her
works, she uses her body as a symbol to express the country or the issue she
presents. Her mother (Maha Yaqoubi) was born in Java in 1964. The entire family
moved to Iraq in 1949, following emigration from Palestine in 1948. The family
settled in Baghdad and married Sama’s father (Hamid) in 1968. Sama, her
sisters, and her parents traveled to Basra (Iraq in 1981, during the war with
Iran). Her story of leaving Iraq was told in her films “A Farewell to Arms” and
“Where the Birds Fly To”.
She grew up between the Middle East
and the United Nations, which she attended high school in Iowa City, studied
photography at Columbia College in Chicago, and obtained a Master of Fine Arts
degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder, in 2005. She has had many
exhibitions in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East since 2003. She
also had solo exhibitions in London, Dubai, Guatemala City, Jerusalem and
Ramallah. Her project "Silsila" was presented at the 55th edition in
Venice as part of the Maldives Tent.
message about it
Sama Al-Shaibi The first scientific
dissertation on Sama Al-Shaibi was published for the “Aperture” Foundation,
entitled “Rushing Sands”, and it contained some of her work in Silsila, and a
project that included video and photography in the desert that took Al-Shaibi
for five years, which was presenting water scarcity in North Africa and West
Asia. Part of the first show Part of this project was in the Venice session in
2013. The book also represents other episodes such as: The Revolution, Possible
Negative Hands, and The Pessimists in the context of Silsila, which means
“ring” or “bond” in Arabic. . The first experience of the Al-Manafet Foundation
in publishing a scientific thesis about an Arab personality was about her.
projects
Al Marbout, 2012, video art.
Levitation, 2012, video art
Ho, 2011 (Solo exhibition, Dubai)
is a multi-media project
empire from. Ho, 2011, featuring
painting on canvas with sound
The ruler who is 2011 wooden throne
statues with voice
Father Who, Ho, 2011, video art
Brother Who, Ho, 2011, video art
Son of, 2011, video art
Revolution, 2011, video art
Warhead, photograph, 2010
The Possible Hands of the Negative,
Photography, 2010.
Absence/Presence from Baghdad
Memories/War, video art in collaboration with Dina El Deeb, 2010
Al-Mandathir/The Remaining from
Baghdad Memories/Hurub, 2010 Video Art in collaboration with Dina El-Deeb
Stillness/Chaos from Baghdad
Memories/War, 2010, video art in collaboration with Dina El Deeb
End of September, 2010, 16 minutes,
short narrative drama film, co-written with her and directed by Alaa Younis.
Chicks, 2009, experimental video
art
Funky, 2010, Experimental video art
Sweep, 2010, experimental video art
Rivers, 2009, 58 min. Documentary
about Iraqi refugees in Jordan
The bird in orange, 2009, video art
Between two rivers, 2008,
photography
and Other Disorders, 2007-2008,
Photography
All I Want for Christmas, 2007,
video art.
In this garden, 2006, photography
Birthright, 2005, photography
To What Birds Fly To, 2008, video
art
Zaman: I remember, 2002-2004.
professionalism
She holds a BA in Photography from
Columbia College, Chicago, and an MA in Fine Arts (Photography, Video, and New
Media) at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is an Affiliate Professor of
Photography at the University of Arizona. She participated as an elected member
of the local board of directors of the Society for Educational Photography
(2009-2013). She founded the female group before leaving in 2009. She was
assigned by the USA to represent the States Department of Art to the United
Arab Emirates from May 21-30, 2012.
Achievements and Awards
Awards
2014-2015 Fulbright Fellowship of
the Western Bank of Palestine: Al-Shaibi was awarded the Honorary Fulbright Fellowship
and moved to Ramallah with her family for a year. This show was under the
title: Building Arts, Culture, and Society. (Palestinian Museum educational
program).
2013 University of Arizona
Distinguished Community Scholarship Award for the year 1885: Al-Shaibi was
among four individuals awarded the Distinguished Community Scholarship Award
for the year 1885, supported through the “Arab Kingdom Society” Foundation
1885, sponsored by the Office of the President of the Arab Federation. This
award is given to those with distinguished performance during their average
career at the university, especially in the field of teaching, research, and
outreach to the Arab Society. The university supervisors and teachers reviewing
the names of the candidates commented on her work, "Her art was
characterized by the expression of Middle Eastern issues, the female, the body,
Islam, and alienation.
2008 Crystal Apple Empowerment
Award, Community Award for Photography Education, Juryd Award for Local
Education
2008 Award for Excellence in
Photography Education, Santa Fe Center) - Honorable Mention - and Juryd Award
for Local Education
2007 Female Review Trust Award,
London, UK
source
- Years in active
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