Basma al-Sharif

Basma al-Sharif is a Palestinian artist and filmmaker whose work explores cyclical political histories, conflict, and the enduring legacy of colonialism. Through films and installations that move between past and present, place and non-place, she creates satirical, immersive, and lyrical narratives that examine collective memory, identity, and the consequences of political violence.

She received an MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2007 and was a resident of the Fondazione Antonio Ratti in 2009 and the Pavillon Neuflize OBC at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris from 2014 to 2015. She was awarded the Jury Prize at the Sharjah Biennial in 2009, received the Fundación Botín Visual Arts Grant in 2010, Mophradat’s Consortium Commissions in 2018, and was a fellow of the Berlin Artistic Research Grant Programme for 2022–2023. In 2024, she was nominated for the Prix Aware.

Her work has been exhibited at major international institutions and exhibitions, including Centre Pompidou-Metz, De Appel, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, MoMA in New York, CCA Glasgow, SALT Galata, the Whitney Biennial, the New Museum, the Berlin Documentary Forum, and Manifesta 8.

Al-Sharif’s films have been screened at numerous international film festivals, including Locarno, Berlin, Mar del Plata, Milan, London, Toronto, New York, Montreal, and Yamagata. She lives and works in Berlin and is represented by Galerie Imane Farès in Paris.