Zena El Khalil (born 1976) is a Lebanese artist, writer, and activist.

Biography

El Khalil attained her undergraduate degree from the

American University in Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs lead ...

. In 2002 El Khalil received her Masters of Fine Arts from the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by Silas ...

in New York. El Khalil works in a variety of formats ranging from

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

, installation,

performance A performance is an act or process of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Performance has evolved glo ...

mixed media In visual art, mixed media describes work of art, artwork in which more than one Art medium, medium or material has been employed. Assemblages, collages, and sculpture are three common examples of art using different List of art media, media. M ...

writing Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

, and

collage Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...

. Themes that are central to her work include issues of violence as well as gender using materials found throughout Beirut. Photocopied images of militiamen and women, civilians and family members are embellished with plastic flowers,

glitter Glitter is an assortment of flat, small, reflective particles that are precision cut and come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Glitter particles resemble confetti, sparkles and sequins, but somewhat smaller. Since prehistoric times ...

, strings of lights,

keffiyeh The keffiyeh (), also regionally known as a hattah (), ghutrah (), or shemagh (), is a traditional headdress worn by men from parts of the Middle East. It is fashioned from a square scarf, and is usually made of cotton. The keffiyeh is commonly ...

s, plastic toy soldiers, toy

AK-47s The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is an assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kal ...

arabesques The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foliate ...

, beads, fabrics, and other objects. She has had solo exhibitions in London, Munich, and Beirut. El Khalil currently lives and works in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

. During the

July War The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, thoug ...

in Lebanon, El Khalil immediately began maintaining beirutupdate from her apartment in Beirut. Her

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

was a personal account of the siege on Beirut that lasted for 33 days and its impact on her and the people around her. It quickly received international attention and was highly publicized on news portals such as CNN and the BBC. Excerpts were published in daily papers, including The Guardian and Der Spiegel Online. Her writing was also included in the anthology ''Lebanon, Lebanon'' published by Saqi Books. In the aftermath of that war, Zena El Khalil curated with Sandra Dagher Nafas Beirut, a multimedia exhibition including 40 artists testimonies of the war. In 2008 El Khalil also completed her first novel, ''Beirut, I Love You''. The book is a memoir about El Khalil's life from 1994 to the present and specifically focuses on growing up in Beirut during a period of immense turmoil. There are also rumors that the book is going to be made into a film.

Work

Solo exhibitions

* 2017 "Sacred Catastrophe: Healing Lebanon" – Beit Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon * 2008 "Maybe One Day Beirut Will Love Me Back." – The Flawless Gallery, Berardi-Sagharchi Projects London, UK * 2006 "I Love You." – Espace SD, Beirut, Lebanon * 2004 "Wahad Areese, Please!" ("A Husband, Please!") – Le Laboratoire, Espace SD, Beirut, Lebanon * 2003 "of love and war..." – Signature Art Gallery, Lagos, Nigeria

Selected group exhibitions

* 2013 "Arab Express: The Latest Art from the Arab World"

Mori Art Museum The is a contemporary art museum founded by the real estate developer Minoru Mori. It is located in the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower in the Roppongi Hills complex, a commercial, cultural, and residential mega-complex in Tokyo, Japan. The museum's ...

, Tokyo, Japan * 2013 "Art13 London" – Olympia Grand Hall, London, UK * 2012 "Art is the Answer!"

Villa Empain The Villa Empain is a former private residence in Brussels, Belgium, which currently serves as a cultural centre and exhibition space. Built in 1930–1934 in Art Deco style by the Swiss-Belgian architect Michel Polak, the villa was commission ...

, Brussels, Belgium * 2008 "But, I Can't Let Go" Galerie Tanit, Munich, Germany * 2007 "The Resilient Landscape" – Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney Australia * "More Than Light Could Bear" – Art Lounge, Beirut, Lebanon * "Ana "Njassa Al Fan" ("I Pear Art") – Dialogpunkt Deutsch, Tripoli, Lebanon * 2006 "Pure Pop" – Art Lounge, Beirut, Lebanon * "Nafas Beirut" – Espace SD Beirut, Lebanon * "Imagining Ourselves" – International Museum of Women, San Francisco, USA

References

External links

Official Website of Zena El Khalil
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khalil, Zena El 1976 births Living people Installation artists Performance artists Lebanese writers Pop artists Lebanese activists Lebanese painters Date of birth missing (living people) Lebanese women artists Women performance artists Women installation artists Lebanese women painters 21st-century women artists American University of Beirut alumni School of Visual Arts alumni