Sama Alshaibi

src: cfa.arizona.edu

Sama Raena Alshaibi also known as Sama Alshaibi (Arabic: ??? ??????? (born 1973 in Basra, Iraq) is a conceptual artist (video art, photography and media installation), in which she often deals with spaces of conflict as her primary subject. War, exile, power and the quest for survival are themes often seen in her works. She often uses her own body in her artwork, as a representation of the country or an issue she is dealing with. Her mother, Maha Yaqoubi was born in Jaffa in 1946. The Yaqoubi family were relocated to Iraq at around in 1949, as a result of the 1948 Palestinian exodus. The family settled in Baghdad and she married Alshaibi's father, Hameed, in 1968. Sama Alshaibi and her siblings and parents fled Basra, Iraq in 1981, during the Iraq Iran War. Her story of leaving Iraq is told in her film Goodbye to the Weapon and "Where The Birds Fly".

She was raised between the Middle East and United States of America, where she attended high school at Iowa City High School, in Iowa CIty Iowa. She studied photography at Columbia College in Chicago, and received her MFA at University of Colorado at Boulder, in 2005. She has exhibited extensively throughout the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East since 2003. Her solo exhibitions include London, Dubai, Guatemala City, Jerusalem and Ramallah. Her project Silsila was exhibited at the 55th Venice Biennale, as part of the Maldives Pavilion. Wasl (Arabic for "Union") (2017) from the Silsila series was included in the inaugural 2017 Honolulu Biennial.

Video Sama Alshaibi

Monograph

Sama Alshaibi: Sand Rushes In, the first monograph of Sama Alshaibi, published by Aperture Foundation. It presents work from Silsila, a video and photographic project that Alshaibi worked on over five years in the deserts and threatened water sources of North Africa and West Asia. Part of that project premiered at the 2013 Venice Biennale. The book also presents other series including Thowra, Negatives Capable Hands and The Pessimists in the context of Silsila which means 'chain' or 'link' in Arabic. Alshaibi's book was published as part of the Aperture's First Book program, and she is the first artist from the Middle East to have a monograph published by Aperture."

Maps Sama Alshaibi

Awards

2014-2015 Fulbright Scholars Fellowship to the West Bank/Palestine: Alshaibi was awarded the prestigious Fulbright Scholars Fellowship and relocated to Ramallah with her family for one year. Her proposal was titled: Arts, Culture and Community Building: Developing Educational Programming for the Palestinian Museum.
2013 University of Arizona's 1885 Society Distinguished Scholars Award: Alshaibi was one of four recipients of the UA's 1885 Society Distinguished Scholars Award and title, supported through the UA Foundation's 1885 Society and sponsored by the UA Office of the President. The award recognizes outstanding mid-career faculty who are leading experts in their fields and highly valued contributors to the UA's teaching, research and outreach missions. The Regents' and Distinguished Professors who reviewed the nominations noted that [she is] "clearly one of the most important voices today in producing art pertaining to issues of the Middle East, women, the body, Islam and exile."
2010 Faculty Research Development Grant, University of Arizona
2008 Crystal Apple Faculty Recipient, Society for Photography Education - juried national teaching award
2008 Excellence in Photographic Teaching, The Center (at Santa Fe) - Honorable Mention - juried national teaching award
2007 Feminist Review Trust, London, United Kingdom

Decolonizing Vision Speaker Series: Sama Alshaibi, âUnchain My ...

src: apa.nyu.edu

Art projects

Silsila, 2009-2015, video art, photography and installation
The Tethered, 2012, video art
Flight, 2012, video art
vs Him, 2011 (solo exhibition in Dubai vs. Him multi media including
vs. The Empire from vs. Him, 2011, projection on canvas with sound
vs. The Ruler from vs. Him, 2011, wood throne sculptures and sound
vs. The Father from vs. Him, 2011, video art
vs. The Brother from vs. Him, 2011, video art
vs. The Son from vs. Him, 2011, video art
Thowra (Revolution), 2011 video art
Warhead, photography, 2010
Negative's Capable Hands, photography 2010
Absence/Presence from Baghdadi Mem/Wars, Video Art in collaboration with Dena Al-Adeeb, 2010
Efface/Remain from Baghdadi Mem/Wars, 2010 Video Art in collaboration with Dena Al-Adeeb
Still/Chaos from Baghdadi Mem/Wars, 2010, Video Art in collaboration with Dena Al-Adeeb
End of September, 2010, 16 minutes, dramatic narrative short, co-written and directed with Ala' Younis.
Chicken, 2009,experimental video art
Sissy, 2010, experimental video art
Sweep, 2009 experimental video art
The Rivers, 2009, 58 minutes, documentary about Iraqi Refugees in Jordan
The Bride Wears Orange (2009-video)
Between Two Rivers (2008-photography)
And Other Interruptions (2007-2008, photography)
All I Want For Christmas (2007-video)
In This Garden (Photography 2006)
Birthright (2005-photography)
Where the Birds Fly (2008-video)
Zaman: I Remember (2002-2004)

Sama Alshaibi: Silsila | Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art

src: museum.cornell.edu

Career

Received her BA in Photography at Columbia College Chicago and her Masters of Fine Arts (Photography, Video and New Media) at University of Colorado at Boulder. She is an Associate Professor of Photography at University of Arizona. She served as an elected member of the National Board of Directors for Society For Photographic Education (2009-2013). She was the co-founder of the feminist collective 6+ before leaving in 2009. Alshaibi represented the United States of America as the U.S. Department of State Arts Envoy to the UAE from May 21-30, 2012.

src: krisislive.files.wordpress.com

References