laila shawa
b. 1940, Gaza, Palestine.
Laila Shawa is known for her use of bold colours and designs to depict themes of political turmoil, violence, and resistance, in her works. She uses mediums of paint, photographs and silk screens, creating whimsical works that demonstrate the paradox of beauty and austerity of the life of Palestinians in Gaza. She is said to be “one of the first Arab artists to successfully break through barriers in the West” (Lawrence Joffe, The Middle East, 2002).
Shawa was exposed to art at an early age and was trained at the Leonardo Da Vinci School of Art in Cairo from 1957 to 1958. She then graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome in 1964, during which she spent her summers with Oskar Kokoschka at the School of Seeing in Salzburg. Upon graduating, she went back to her home country and was in charge of arts and crafts education in refugee camps for UNWRA. In 1967, she moved to Beirut where she painted commercially for several years. She returned to Gaza during the Lebanese Civil War and worked on designing the Rashad Shawa Cultural Centre.
In 1987, Shawa moved to London where her socio-politically themes work was gaining traction with critics, even resulting in her work being collected by the British Museum. Her silk screens and prints of ‘The Walls of Gaza’ gave rise to her international recognition.
EXHIBITIONS
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
‘Contrast and Difference’, Marna House – Gaza, Palestine, 1965.
Exhibition of drawings by Laila Shawa, The Book Centre Gallery – Beirut, Lebanon, 1968.
Hotel Vendome – Beirut, Lebanon, 1970.
‘Cities of Gold, Dar Tunis’, The Tunisian Cultural Centre – Beirut, Lebanon, 1971.
Sultan Gallery – Kuwait City, Kuwait, 1972.
‘Of Horses and Cities’, L’Antiquaire Gallery – Beirut, Lebanon, 1975.
‘Women and the Veil’, Jordan National Gallery – Amman, Jordan, 1990.
‘Women and Magic’, The Gallery – London, UK, 1992.
‘The Walls of Gaza Series II’, The Library, SOAS, University of London – London, UK, 1994.
‘In the Name of God: Crucifixion 2000’, Ashmolean Museum – Oxford, UK, 2000.
‘Sarab (Mirage)’, Atrium Gallery, DIFC – Dubai, UAE, 2008.
‘Arabopop’, Articulate Baboon Gallery – Cairo, Egypt, 2010.
‘Sarab (Mirage)’, The Art Museum – Sharjah, UAE, 2010-11.
‘Trapped: A Female Suicide Bomber’, Galerie Imane Farès – Paris, France, 2011.
‘The Other Side of Paradise’, October Gallery – London, UK, 2012.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
‘Arab Women Artists in the UK’, Kufa Gallery – London, UK, 1987.
The Baghdad Biennale, Saddam Centre – Baghdad, Iraq, 1988.
‘Contemporary Art from the Islamic World’, Barbican Centre – London, UK, 1989.
‘Malaysian Experience’, National Art Gallery of Malaysia – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1990.
‘Three Artists from Gaza: Fayez Al Hasani, Kamel al Mughanni and Laila Shawa’, The Shoman Foundation – Amman, Jordan, 1992.
Exhibition of Limited Prints Editions at SAGA, Salon de l’estampe et de l’édition d’art à Tirage limité, Grand Palais – Paris, France, 1993.
‘Shawa and Wijdan’, October Gallery – London, UK, 1994.
‘From Exile to Jerusalem’, Al-Wasiti Art Centre – Jerusalem, Israel, 1994.
‘Forces of Change, Artists of the Arab World’ – National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC; Dudley House, Lehman Hall, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; The Chicago Cultural Centre, Chicago Illinois; Wolfson Gallery and Central Gallery, Miami-Dade Community College, Miami, Florida; Nexus Contemporary Art Centre, Atlanta, Georgia; Bedford Gallery,Walnut Creek, California; Gwinnett Arts Center, Duluth, Georgia, USA, 1994-95.
‘Contemporary Middle Eastern Art’, recent acquisition, John Addis Gallery – British Museum, London, UK, 1995.
‘Artists’ View, The Arab World’, Willamette Arts Gallery, Willamette University – Salem, Oregon, USA, 1995.
‘The Right to Hope’, One World Art – UN travelling exhibition starting in Johannesburg, South Africa (whole exhibition was lost in Sarajevo 1997/8), 1995-97.
‘Transvangarde’, October Gallery – London, UK, 1996.
‘Contemporary Arab Artists’, the World Bank Gallery, the World Bank Building – Washington DC., USA, 1996.
‘The Right to Write: Calligraphic Works from the Collection of the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts’, The Dalton Gallery, Agnes Scott College – Decatur,
Georgia, USA, 1996.
‘Artistes palestiniens contemporains’, Institute du Monde Arabe – Paris, France, 1997.
‘Mediterranea’, Grand Palais – Brussels, Belgium, 1998.
‘Dialogue of the Present’ – Hot Gallery, Bath; Plymouth Arts Centre, Plymouth;
Brunei Gallery, SOAS, London; Pittshanger Manor Gallery, London;
Brighton University Gallery, Brighton, UK, 1990-2000.
First International Forum for a Culture of Peace by Pan-Mediterranean Women Artists Network – Rhodes, Greece, 2000.
‘Art Beyond Borders’ – UNESCO and TIMOTCA (The International Museum of Twentieth Century Art); UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France; Mitra Municipal Gallery, Lisbon, Portugal; Las Vegas Art Museum, USA, 1998-00.
‘Twelve Arab Artists’, Wereldmuseum – Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 2001.
‘A Thousand Ways of Being. Memory and Presence in the Arts of Diasporas’, October Gallery – London, UK, 2002.
‘Masterstrokes: Contemporary Arabic Calligraphy’, October Gallery – London, UK, 2002.
‘Transvangarde, An Artistic World Wide Web’, October Gallery – London, UK, 2002.
‘Breaking the Veils: Women Artists from the Islamic World’ – exhibition organised by the Royal Society of Fine Arts, Jordan, and Pan-Mediterranean Women Artists Network F.A.M. (Femme-Artist-Méditerranée) based in Greece which travelled throughout Europe, Australia and USA, 2002-11.
‘Between Legend and Reality, Modern Art from the Arab World’, Reykjavik Art Museum and Akureyri Art Museum – Iceland, 2002.
‘From the Ocean to the Gulf and Beyond: Arab Contemporary Art’, the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts – Amman, Jordan, 2002.
‘Religion, Art and War’, Maison Des Artes – London, UK, 2003.
‘Transvangarde: Contemporary Art from Around the World’, (October Gallery), Kulturbrauerei – Berlin, Germany, 2003.
‘Walled In: Walled Out, Laila Shawa and Noa Lidor’, Green Cardamom – London, UK, 2005.
‘Word into Art’, British Museum – London, UK, 2006.
‘Text Messages’, October Gallery – London, UK, 2006.
‘Arab Print’, Edition I, Meem Gallery – Dubai, UAE, 2008.
‘Routes, Middle Eastern and Arab Art’, Waterhouse & Dodd – London, UK, 2008.
‘Roads Were Open, Roads Were Closed’, Third Line Gallery – Dubai, UAE, 2008.
‘Mediterraneo’, Italian Cultural Institute – London, UK, 2008.
Spring Show, October Gallery – London, UK, 2008.
‘Word into Art’, a British Museum touring exhibition, The Atrium, DIFC – Dubai, UAE, 2008.
‘Middle Eastern and European Art’, the Recessionists – Somerset, UK, 2009.
‘Arabesque: Arts from the Arab World’, the Kennedy Centre – Washington, D.C., USA, 2009.
‘Contemporary Calligraphic Art from the Arab World’, Nabad Gallery – Jabal Amman, Jordan, 2009-10.
‘Sajjil, A Century of Modern Art’, Mathaf, Arab Museum of Modern Art – Doha, Qatar, 2010.
‘Co-incidence’, Galerie Imane Farès – Paris, France, 2010.
‘Crunchtime: Artist’s Responses to the Global Crisis’, International Visual Arts Event – York, UK, 2010.
‘Miragens: Contemporary Art in the Islamic World’, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil – Rio de Janeiro, touring to : Sao Paolo, Brasilia, Brazil. 2010-11.
‘Passport to Palestine’, La Scatola Gallery – London, UK, 2011.
‘Contemporary Art/Arab & Iranian’, Sotheby’s – London, UK, 2011.
‘Art Dubai’, October Gallery (London, UK) – Dubai, UAE, 2008-11.
Abu Dhabi Art Fair, October Gallery (London, UK) – Abu Dhabi, UAE, 2011.
OFFICIAL COLLECTIONS
The National Art Gallery – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The National Art Gallery – Amman, Jordan.
The British Museum – London, UK.
The Museum of Modern Art – Glasgow, Scotland.
The Arab Bank Limited – Amman, Jordan.
The Palestinian Union of Artists – Beirut, Lebanon.
The Kuwait Fund – Kuwait City, Kuwait.
The Rashad Shawa Cultural Centre – Gaza, Palestine.
The Khaled Shoman Foundation – Amman, Jordan.
The National Museum for Women in the Arts – Washington D.C., USA.
The Qatar Museum for Contemporary Middle Eastern Art, Mathaf – Qatar.
The Wereldmuseum – Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
The TIMOTCA – Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
The World of Islam Festival Trust – London, UK.
The Ashmolean Museum – Oxford, UK.
The Burrell Collection, Art Gallery and Museum – Glasgow, Scotland.
DIFC – Dubai, UAE.
Spazio Brazzà – Moruzzo, Italy.
The Benevolent Society – Gaza, Palestine.