Samah Shihadi draws inspiration from her family's experiences, navigating the traumatic history of the Palestinian people and their traditions. Using hyperrealism as her chosen medium, she delves into issues surrounding identity, her society, and the political realities that shape her world.
Shihadi's delicate drawings, made with great precision touch on topics central to contemporary art and offer a pronouncement and visual report that fluctuates between the internal, personal, social and cultural. Her drawings, created in a slow, meticulous, and prolonged work process, also evoke a sense of urgency and immediacy regarding subjects in the here and now: the status of women in society, tradition and religious belief versus social and political reality, and local landscapes charged with history.
Shihadi holds an M.F.A. from the University of Haifa and a B.Ed. in art from Oranim Academic College of Education. A recipient of multiple awards, Shihadi has showcased her work extensively, internationally. Her work has been collected by institutions including LACMA.
EDUCATION
2013-2015 M.F.A. The Art Department, Haifa University
2008-2012 B.ED. Art & Education, Oranim College
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024, Back to Berlin, Livingstone Gallery, The Hague, The Netherlands
2023-24, Berlin Diary, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
2023, MORE Museum, Netherlands
2020, Terra (Un)firma, Tabari Artspace, Dubai, UAE
2019, Spellbound, Tel Aviv Museum of Art
The way home, Wilfrid Israel museum, hazorea
2018, Hungry for Home, Tabari Artspace, Dubai, UAE
2015, Machanaim, Machanaim Art Gallery,
2015, Wanted, Umm el fahem Gallery, Umm el fahem
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024, Fabric, sweat, and tears, Gordon-London House Municipal Art Gallery, Rishon lezion, Israel
Hold everything dear, Tel Aviv Museum, Tel Aviv, Israel
2023, Palestinian art stands cultural resistance, CAP Kuwait
Ghost Trees, Mishkenot Shaanaim, Jerusalem, Israel
Women defining women in contemporary art of the Middle East and beyond, LACMA, Los Angeles, USA
2022, Roma Arte, Nuvola, Italy
Volta Art Fair, Basel
Ecmnesia, Cosmo Gallery, Rome
Food Weave, Chelouche Gallery, Tel Aviv
2021, The Haifa Way, Haifa Museum of Art, Haifa
1+1, Payramida Gallery, Haifa
Breathing, Mishkenot Shaanaim, Jeruselem
Inside/Out, CAP Kuwait
2020, Abu Dhabi Art (Fair)
Bodyscapes, Isreal Museum, Jerusalem
2019, Objects of imagination, Jordan national gallery, Jordan
Family stories, Kunstmuseum Bochum, Bochum, Germany
Beyond the veil, Memoire de L'avenir gallery, Paris, France
Our permanent guardian, Yasser Arafat museum, Ramallah
Belonging, Dubai design district, Dubai
1948, Haifa city museum, Haifa
Limit less, The gallery at the walled off hotel, Bethlehem
2018, Khamsa, Islamic museum, Jerusalem
Art Dubai 2018, Dubai
House…..Houses, The gallery at the walled off hotel, Bethlehem
Motion trap, Idris gallery, Tel Aviv
2017, A sight of disjunction, Mangm, Haifa
A sight of disjunction, Beit saa, Ramallah
Hamsin, the collaborative art center, Givat Haviva
Third Identity, CAP Kuwait, Kuwait
2016, Head & tails, Binyamin gallery, Tel Aviv
Roots of identity, art on 56th gallery, Beirut, Lebanon
Paper Biennale 6, Artists' House, Jerusalem
The winners: Ministry of Culture and Sport Prizes for Art and Design, Herzliya Museum, Herzliya
Zoom 2016, ticho house, Jerusalem
Palestine format actuel, mac.a expo2, Asilah, morocco
The identity of the Palestinian artist, Umm El Fahem Gallery, Umm El Fahem
Fresh Paint 8, Tel Aviv Port, Tel Aviv
Durability, Dar Al-Kalima University College of Art and Culture, Bethlehem
Crossroads, Zawyeh Gallery, Ramallah
2015, Spots and Signatures, Sister House, Tel Aviv
Spots and Signatures, The House of Culture & Art, Nazareth
Bread and Roses 10, Shenkar College, Ramat Gan
We will see the Other Days, Gabirol Gallery, Tel Aviv
Personal to the Bone, The House of Culture & Art, Nazareth
Graduate Exhibition (MFA), Haifa University, Haifa
Similarity, Palestinian Artists Exhibition, HerzLilienblum Museum, Tel Aviv, Hecht Museum, Haifa
2014, Bread and Roses 9, Kastiel as is, Tel Aviv
Galilee Paint 2, Ort School, Tiberias
Combination, The House of Culture & Art, Nazareth
Contact, Hecht Museum, Haifa Paper Work, Mofet Institute, Tel Aviv
2012, Low Tech, Wadi Gallery, Haifa
Log in log out, Beit Hagefen Gallery, Haifa
Bread and Roses 7, Minshar School of Art, Tel Aviv
Graduate Exhibition (B.ED), Oranim College, Tivon
ART FAIRS
2024, Abu Dhabi Art
2024, Art Dubai, Dubai, UAE
2024, Art Rotterdam
AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS
2022, Excellency Award, Association for Women's Art and Gender Research in Israel
2018, Haim Shiff Prize for Figurative- Realistic Art
2018, Pais Culture Council Support in Exhibition and Catalog
2016, Ismail Shammout Award in Fine Art
2015, Young Award, Ministry of Culture & Sport
2015, Excellency Award, Haifa University
2014, Promising Artists, Galilee Paint Art Fair
2013, Pais Culture Council Support in Exhibition and Catalog
2012, Excellency Award, Oranim College
SELECTED PRESS
2020, Artsy, Body Issues: Artists’ Maps of the Human Body Reveal Our Desire for Immortality
2018, Positive Magazine, Hungry For Home: Interview
2018, Islamic Arts Magazine, Hungry for Home by the Palestinian Artist Samah Shihadi