Samira Badran’s project for the 9th Sharjah Biennial Have a Pleasant Stay! was a visual and physical metaphor of the concept of suffocation and imprisonment based on the experience of passing through the dense and claustrophobic Qalandia checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem. Using a broad range of media and often appropriated or found images, Badran disassembles then reconfigures the details in her enigmatic, multi-layered works. Badran’s exhibition history is extensive and began in 1976 with a presentation at the YWCA in Jerusalem. Numerous shows across the Arab world, Europe and the US followed including presentations in Baghdad, Washington, Havana, and New York. Her most recent solo exhibition was at University Rovira i Virgili, Salou, Spain (2008). Her work has been included in group exhibitions at Can Felipa, Barcelona, Spain (2009), The Jerusalem Show, Al Ma’mal Foundation , Jerusalem (2009), the Rafia Gallery, Damascus, Syria (2009), the Sharjah Biennial (2009), Gemeentemuseum Den Haag/Gemak, the Netherlands (2008), Al Hoash, Jerusalem (2007), Centre De Cultura La Mercè, Girona (2006) and the Foreign Ministry, Berlin (2005). Born to Palestinian parents in Tripoli, Libya in 1954, Badran graduated in 1976 from the Academy of Fine Arts in Cairo, later studying etching and painting at the Academia Delle Belle Arti in Florence from 1978 to 1982. The artist currently lives and works in Barcelona, Spain. October 2010 This person was part of Sharjah Biennial 9