Bahia Shehab | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Shehab in 2022 | |
| Born | 1977 (age 46–47) |
| Education | PhD, Arab Art History, Leiden University, The Netherlands (2019)
MA, Islamic Art & Architecture, American University in Cairo, Egypt (2009) BGD, Graphic Design, American University of Beirut, Lebanon (1999) |
| Occupation(s) | artist, art historian, designer and scholar |
| Style | Political art, Conceptual art, Street art, Revolution Art |
| Awards | UNESCO-Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture 2016
Prince Claus Award 2016 TED Senior Fellow 2016 BBC 100 Women 2013 |
| Website | bahiashehab |
Bahia Shehab (Arabic: بهية شهاب; born 1977)[1] is an Egyptian multidisciplinary artist, designer, historian, creative director, educator and activist based in Cairo. Her work is concerned with identity and cultural heritage, and uses Islamic art history and in particular Islamic calligraphy and graphic design to explore contemporary Arab politics, feminist discourse and social issues.
Her culturally oriented work is concerned with using history as a means to better understand the present, and to find solutions for the future. Shehab is interested in the ways in which art can be employed for social change, and has explored this phenomenon through her artwork, which draws upon such socially charged themes as Arab identity and women's rights. Her research is largely concerned with understanding Arabic script, and much of her work explores both traditional and refashioned Arabic calligraphy.
By imbuing traditional Arabic and Islamic scripts with political messages, she has used art to explore and interrogate to understand societal situations and bring them to a larger audience. Her artwork first appeared on the walls of Cairo during the Egyptian revolution of 2011 and has since been displayed in exhibitions around the world. Shehab has received several awards for her achievements.[2] In 2019 she was featured in the Polaris catalogue produced by Visual Collaborative, where she was interviewed alongside other artists from around the world.[3]
- ^ "Bahia Shehab: Art As a Tool for Change". HuffPost. 24 March 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
- ^ "Bahia Shehab". Khatt Foundation.
- ^ Agbana, Rotimi (2 April 2019). "Shehab, Bobby, Tosin Oshinowo, others featured on Visual Collaborative". Vanguard (Nigeria). Retrieved 2 May 2019.