Biography
Jumana Emil Abboud uses drawing, video, performance, objects and text to navigate themes of memory, loss and resilience. Her interests lie in oral histories, the investigation and retelling of personal and collective stories and mythologies, and the interlinkages between these stories in both natural and cultural landscapes. Her work has often reflected a Palestinian cultural landscape, in which the struggle for continuity amid the wider political context necessitates a constant process of metamorphosis and ingenuity.
During the past decade, Abboud’s work has been presented in numerous international solo and group exhibitions and festivals, including gohyang: home, 3rd edition of ‘Approaching the Non-West’, Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) (2019); Unweaving Narratives, The Palestinian Museum, Birzeit (2018); BMW Tate Live Exhibition; Tate Modern, London (2018); Subcontracted Nations, A. M. Qattan Foundation, Ramallah (2018); Sharjah Biennial 13 (2017); The Horse, the Bird, the Tree and the Stone, Bildmuseet, Umea University, Sweden (2017); The pomegranate and the sleeping ghoul, Darat Al Funun, Amman (2017); O Whale, Don’t Swallow our Moon!, Khalil Sakakini Cultural Centre, Ramallah (2016); All the World’s Futures, 56th Venice Biennial (2015); Madrid Palestine Film Festival (2014); and Sharjah Biennial 7, 9 and 10 (2005, 2009 and 2011, respectively).
She has been awarded the Pernod Ricard Fellowship by Bétonsalon, Paris (2020), and the Visual Arts grant by the Arab Fund for Art & Culture (AFAC), Beirut (2017).
She received a bachelor’s degree in fine arts and a postgraduate diploma from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem (1996 and 1999, respectively). She is pursuing a PhD at the Slade School of Art, University College London (2019–present).
Born in 1971 in Nazareth, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Abboud lives and works between Jerusalem and London.
SAF participation:
Production Programme 2020
Sharjah Biennial 7, 9, 10 and 13