Chafa Ghaddar
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Biography
Wall painting and surface finishing are central to Chafa Ghaddar’s practice. She explores the use of fresco as a contemporary mode of making, as well as other techniques, and works equally with murals, painting, drawing, photography, and mixed media.
The artist executes site-specific and public artworks, and has participated in solo and group exhibitions in Beirut, Dubai, New York, Brussels, and Verona. Her latest was a solo show at Maraya Art Center, Sharjah. In 2022, Ghaddar was commissioned to produce a site-specific work for the 16th Lyon Biennale, Manifesto of Fragility, curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath. She has been awarded several artist fellowships and residencies, including the Tashkeel Studio Critical Practice Program in 2018/2019 (with a solo exhibition), the Salama Emerging Artist Fellowship (SEAF, 2018), and the artist-in-residence program at the Villa Empain (Brussels, 2015), which also awarded her the Boghossian Art Prize for painting in 2014.
Ghaddar graduated from Académie Libanaise des Beaux Arts (ALBA), where she earned her Bachelor’s in Fine Arts degree in 2007 and a Master’s in Visual Arts in 2009. In 2012, she attended an intensive course in fresco and traditional painting techniques in Florence, Italy, an experience that continues to inform her practice today. In 2024 she completed a 6-month teaching artist fellowship awarded by DCT.
Ghaddar has been developing a teaching practice across notable art institutions in the UAE such as NYU Abu Dhabi, Istituto Marangoni, Dubai and The Arts Club, Dubai.EDUCATION
2009, MA in Visual Arts and new Medias, ALBA, Académie Libanaise des Beaux Arts, Beirut2007, BA in Fine Arts, ALBA, Académie Libanaise des Beaux Arts, Beirut
CHAFA GHADDAR ON FRESCO
"Fresco matures twice. In its first stage, it is a work of construction: surfaces are initiated, visuals are painted, the artist is active, and the medium becomes solid. In its second stage, the work manifests itself through its own degradation: the decay of the skin, the absence of the artist and the resistance of what remains.
Through frescoes, I explore the manifestation of time on surfaces. Historical gesture appears in conversation with the present. Traces are evoked or retained, then investigated. Temporalities clash. I explore the paradox of a medium that can be timeless and vulnerable at once. I combine it with other techniques, particularly to process the idea of trace and fragmentation of time and space. I contest its immaculate historicity to suggest new boundaries and territories. I relate to the sensuality of its surfaces that encapsulate every gesture and every error. I see it as a living material, constantly subject to growth. Fresco allows me to pierce an ecosystem of consistencies and paradoxes, and make them mine".
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024, Your Sun That Kept Setting, Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah, UAE
2023, Beneath Latent Skies, Tabari Artspace, UAE
2021, Cacti in a Daydream, Galerie Tanit hors-les-murs, Beirut2019-2020, Recesses, Tashkeel Studios and Galleries, Dubai, UAE
2018, The Visit, Galerie Tanit, Beirut
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026, Same Air, Tabari Artspace, Dubai, UAE
2025, The Power of Intention (Just as a Talisman), Villa Cramer, Brera District, Milan, Italy
2024, In Real Time, NYU Abu Dhabi, UAE
2021, How Will It End? Fondation Boghossian, Brussels, curated by Alicia Knock and Louma Salame2021, I Am One Acquainted with the Night, Studio La Citta, Verona, Italy
2018, Made in Tashkeel, Dubai, UAE
2017, Feminites Plurielles, Galerie Tanit, Beirut
2016, City and City, the Arnold and Sheila Aronson Galleries, New York (curated by Natasha Marie Llorens)
2015, L’espace de la feuille, Galerie Tanit, Beirut (curated by Clémence Cottard and Marc Mouarkech)
2014, Nostalgic Imagery, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut (curated by Nadine Majdalani Bekdache and BAKS/art concepts)
Journey through our Heritage, Beirut Exhibition Centre (curated by Janine Maamari)
2011, Beirut Past and Present, Art Lounge and Kaslik University, Beirut (curated by Yasmine Chemaly)
2010, Space of crime, village of Maaser el Chouf, Lebanon (curated by Ghada Hage)
2009, Tout un chacun, Vieme Jeux de la Francophonie, Unesco, Beirut (curated by Ghada Hage)
Badger I, UN événement autour de l’image, in a factory in Bourj Hammoud, Beirut (curated by Ghada Hage)
2012, Exposure 2012, a juried group exhibition at Beirut Art Centre, Beirut, Jury: Amanda Abi Khalil (curator), Gilbert Hage (artist), Jannane al-Ani (artist), Khalil Rabah (artist) and the board of Beirut Art Center
COMMISSIONS
2023, I Am Still Learning, tile mural, Safa Public Library, Dubai, UAE (Commissioned by Art Dubai, curated by Amanda Abi Khalil, supported by Tashkeel and DCAA)
2021, The Fifth Month, fresco mural, Mar Mikhael, Beirut
2017-2023, Permanent Public Artwork, Art Dubai A.I.R. Programme in collaboration with Dubai Culture and Tashkeel, Al Safa Public Library, UAE
2014, Breath is a Sculpture, assisting Giuseppe Penone with site-specific mural Propagazione, Beirut Art Center2011—, Frescoes, Murals and Surface Interventions in over 25 private spaces and residences
SPECIAL PROJECTS
2025, Hermès Commission, Dubai Mall, UAE
2024, Gucci Art Program, Mall of the Emirates, Dubai, UAE
2020, KJCHAPTERVII, backdrop painting with fashion designer Krikor Jabotian, Beirut
2017, Strata, fresco mural with A Hypothetical Office and Zuleika Penniman, Design Days Dubai, UAE
2016, Reincarnation, backdrop painting with Krikor Jabotian, Beirut
2012, On Fleeting Grounds, photography collective, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut
2010, Visuals of a City in Flux, photography collective, UNESCO, BeirutART FAIRS
2024, Abu Dhabi Art, UAE
Art Dubai, UAE2023, Abu Dhabi Art, UAE
2022, MENART FAIR Paris- Galerie Tanit Beirut/Munich2021, MENART FAIR Paris- Une histoire de Bleu, Galerie Tanit Beirut/Munich, Germany
2018, Beirut Art Fair, Galerie Tanit Beirut/Munich, Germany
2018, Art Dubai, Galerie Tanit Beirut/Munich, Germany
BIENNALES
2022, Commissioned to be part of the 16th Lyon Biennale, Manifesto of fragility, curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Felrath
COLLECTIONSBoghossian Foundation (Brussels), Tashkeel Foundation (Dubai), Fondation Saradar (Beirut)
Byblos Bank Headquarters, Beirut
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS & PRESS
2025, Lebanese Artist Chafa Ghaddar Dives Deep Into the Vulnerability of Walls, Architectural Digest
2025, The 11 Best Things to Do in Dubai in April, Architectural Digest2024, The span of a day. Lebanese artist Chafa Ghaddar elevates the fresco technique to conceptual highs, Hadara Magazine
2024, Gucci’s boutique in Mall of the Emirates reopens with a newly reimagined space, Gucci2023, The Power of Storytelling, FEMMEFEST
2023, Textural Intimacies: Skin as Surface, Nadine Khalil
2022, In Conversation, Musée Gadagne, Lyon
2020, A Lexicon in Celebration of Recesses, Jill Magi
2020, Recesses, Kevin Jones2020, Blue Was a Revolution: Ongoing Notes Towards Fresco
2020, The Diary of an Artist in Interesting Times, Selections Magazine
2019, Féminités Plurielles, Galerie Tanit
2018, The Residues of Elsewhere, Kevin Jones
2018, Le WAW: A Wondrous Visit from Chafa Ghaddar
2017, Art Dubai Blog: Q&A with A.I.R. Dubai 2017 Artist
2017, Art Dubai Blog: A.I.R. Dubai 20172016, Absent Beirut: Reflections on Reflections, Ibraaz, Natasha Marie Llorens
2016, Apres l’Alba- Academie Libanaise des Beaux Arts, Beirut
2013, Journey through our Heritage, Beirut Exhibition Center
2012, Exposure 2012, Beirut Art CenterRESIDENCIES AND AWARDS
2024, Teaching Artist Fellowship, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Fresco public commission, Al Safa Library, Dubai, UAE
2014, Awarded the Boghossian Art Prize for Painting2007, Scholarship, ENSBA, Paris (October-November)
2015, Boghossian Art Foundation, Brussels, (October-November)
2007, La Corbiere Village Nomade, Switzerland (July)
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
2023-2024, Teaching Artist Fellowship, Art Studio, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2022–2023, Nominated for SEAF (Salama Bint Hamdan Emerging Artist Fellowship)
2018–2019, Critical Practice Programme, Tashkeel Studio, Dubai, UAE -
Works
Installation view, Fertile Dreams, Tabari Artspace, DIFC -
Exhibitions
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Same Air / نفس الهواء
11 May - 25 August 2026A group exhibition featuring fourteen artists of and connected to the Gulf, the exhibition includes works produced in direct response to a shared moment of disruption. Over the last month,...Explore -
Fertile Dreams, Group Exhibition
Tabari Artspace 1 November 2025 - 1 April 2026Fertile Dreams exists in the slippages between soil and psyche, where earthly terrain fuels the landscape of the unconscious. Fertility is not only a question of biology, but of sustenance,...Explore -
Tabari Artspace Presents MENA Artists in Milan
The Power of Intention, A Group Exhibition Curated by Bebe Leone 6 March - 1 April 2025Tabari Artspace presents The Power of Intention in Milan, a multidisciplinary exhibition featuring works by La Serena’s resident and visiting artists. Curated by Bebe Leone and hosted at Villa Cramer...Explore -
Routes to Roots a Group Presentation at Abu Dhabi Art 2024
Sliman Mansour, Samah Shihadi, Michael Halak, Hazem Harb, Aya Haidar, Randa Maddah, Chafa Ghaddar and Tagreed Darghouth 20 - 24 November 2024Routes to Roots draws on James Clifford's concept that understanding one's cultural roots often requires embarking on new journeys or routes. This idea serves as the foundation for Tabari Artspace's...Explore -
Chafa Ghaddar Solo at Maraya Art Centre
Your Sun That Kept Setting 2 November 2024 - 10 January 2025In her solo exhibition, Your Sun That Kept Setting , Chafa Ghaddar explores landscapes as evolving fragments. Inspired by the ancient fresco technique, Ghaddar paints on fresh lime plaster, preserving...Explore -
Chafa Ghaddar, Al Safa Library, Public Commission
4 September 2024 - 11 September 2025Explore -
Tabari Artspace Presents Women Artists of the MENA at Art Dubai 2024
Corporeal: Lands Through The Female Gaze 1 - 3 March 2024Multi-artist booth Chafa Ghaddar, Tagreed Darghouth, Hana Almilli, Miramar Al Nayyar, Aya Haidar, Maitha Abdalla, Samah Shihadi and Alymamah Rashed For Art Dubai, Tabari Artspace presents a multi-artist booth uniting...Explore -
Chafa Ghaddar Participates in, In Real Time, Group Show at NYUAD Gallery
22 February - 9 June 2024' This is an exhibition about visiting and revisiting, about being physically present in the space, with the traces left by artists who have been there, or hints of those...Explore -
Tabari Artspace Presents the Alfred Basbous Museum & Chafa Ghaddar at Abu Dhabi Art 2023
22 - 26 November 2023Contemporary Lebanese artist Chafa Ghaddar has produced a compelling new body of work inspired by her sojourn at the Alfred Basbous Foundation in Rachana, Lebanon. Ghaddar, whose recent conceptual exploration...Explore -
Chafa Ghaddar Solo, Beneath Latent Skies
Tabari Artspace 27 February - 27 April 2023Presented at Tabari Artspace art gallery in Dubai, Beneath Latent Skies is the first part of a series of exhibitions by Lebanese contemporary artist, Chafa Ghaddar, Working across multiple media,...Explore -
Chafa Ghaddar at The 16th Lyon Biennale
14 - 18 September 2022The 16th Lyon Biennale: manifesto of fragility positions fragility at the heart of a generative form of resistance that is emboldened by the past, responsive to the present and primed...Explore
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Press
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Chafa Ghaddar, Interview with CP magazine
Jose Berrocoso, CP Magazine, 14 June 2026 -
At the Deja Vu exhibition, UAE galleries find strength in collaboration
The National, 29 April 2026 -
Artistic Unity: Art in the UAE - Interview with Chafa Ghaddar
Selections Arts9 December 2024 -
Art Dubai Highlights the City's Growing Appeal with Asian Collectors
Arun Kakar, Artsy, 4 March 2024 -
Tabari Artspace presents a powerful and feminine showcase of artists at Art Dubai
The National, 29 February 2024 -
Artistic Unity: Art in the UAE, Tabari Interview with Chafa Ghaddar
Selections, 8 February 2024 -
Chafa Ghaddar's Dubai exhibition explores years of trauma with fresh take on frescoes
Afshan Ahmed, The National, 19 April 2023 -
Standout Works at the 2022 Biennale de Lyon
ARTnews, 30 September 2022
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