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Ibi Ibrahim
b. 1987, Yemen

Ibi Ibrahim (b. 1987, Michigan, United States) is a Yemeni-American visual artist, filmmaker and musician. He studied photography at the International Center of Photography in New York. Ibrahim’s work explores various thematics surrounding immigration, gender and resilience. All marked by notions of in-betweenness, transition and the diasporic human experience. The photowork Ibrahim produced over the past decade aims to offer an idiosyncratic exploration of Arab identities through an artistic approach specifically highlighting queer Arab-American perspectives and intertwining storytelling with care practices, artistic research and advocacy. His work is part of a number of private collections as well as public collections including the British Museum, Colorado College, Arab American National Museum, Barjeel Art Foundation and Durham University Oriental Museum, among others.

Selected solo exhibitions include; Like Every Leaving Wasn’t a Country, Entre, Vienna, Austria (2024); 21 March 2015, Soma Art Space, Berlin, Germany (2021); Departure / Arrival, The Lab Space, Darat Al Funun, Amman, Jordan (2017); Lights, Leaves and Yemeni Coffee, JAMM Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE (2015). Ibrahim has been part of numerous art residencies including the Laundromat Project, New York, USA (2022); Arab American National Museum, Dearborn, USA (2020); Soma Art Space, Berlin, Germany (2020); Darat Al Funun, Amman, Jordan (2017); Beirut Art Residency, Beirut, Lebanon (2016); Cites Internationale des Arts, Paris, France (2014) and others. He lives and works in New York.

Credentials

Regional solo exhibitions
International group exhibitions
Photo festival participant

Solo Exhibitions

2024 Like Every Leaving wasn’t a Country, Entre, Vienna, Austria
2021 26 March 2015, Soma Art, Berlin, Germany
2017 Voyage Voyage, Malja Space, Bahrain
2017 Departure / Arrival, Darat Al Funun, Khalid Shoman Foundation, Amman, Jordan
2015 Lights, Leave and Yemeni Coffee, JAMM Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE

Group Exhibitions

2024 Echoes of the Past, The Light Factory, Charlotte, USA
2024 Shared Spaces, International Center of Photography, New York, USA
2024 The Circle was A Point, Foundry Dubai — presented by Barjeel Art Foundation, Dubai, UAE
2023 Voices: Contemporary Art and Craft from the Middle East and North Africa, Oriental Museum, Durham University, UK
2023 For Those Who Couldn’t Cross the Sea, Nordic House, Reykjavík, Iceland
2023 Diasporic Tremors, NYU Gallatin Galleries, New York, USA
2023 Diva’s: bezieling en beleving in Arabische muziek, Tropen Museum, Amsterdam
2022 Taiwan Annual, Association of Visual Arts in Taiwan, Taipei, Taiwan
2022 Cultivate and Grow, Arab American National Museum, Dearborn, USA
2021 'Divas: D'Oum Kalthoum à Dalida', Institut du monde arabe, Paris, France
2018 'Executive (Dis)Order: Art, Displacement, & the Ban', Queens Museum, New York, USA
2018 'Tribe: Contemporary Art from the Arab World', Katzen Center, Washington, D.C., USA
2016 'Beyond Borders', Blain Southern Gallery, London, UK
2016 'Unbreakable Rope', an exploration of sexuality in Islam, Free Word Centre, London, UK
2015 'Here, There, and Everywhere', Imagining New Eurasia Project, Seoul, Korea
2015 'The taste of Addiction; cups, capsules, recipes, and the tale of Yemeni Coffee", Bernheimer Contemporary, Berlin, Germany
2015 'Walls and Margins', Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE
2015 "Remigrating Yemenite Voices", Spraechsaal, Berlin, Germany
2015 "Double Tap ll", Malja Art space, Manama, Bahrain
2015 "ReOrientation: Defining and Defying 19th Century French Image of the Arab World", IDEA SPACE at Colorado Springs, USA
2014 "Really Expensive", Nouvel Organon, Paris, France
2014 JAMM Art Gallery Booth, Beirut Art Fair, Beirut, Lebanon
2014 JAMM Art Gallery Booth, Art14, London, UK
2013 Paintings and Photographs, European Union Office, Sana’a, Yemen
2013 "Photos that scream", Basement Gallery, Sana’a, Yemen
2012 "Black & White: Absence of Color", Mpls Photo Center, Minneapolis, USA
2011 Peace by Toby, Athr Gallery, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
2011 Gender Matters/Matters of Gender, Freedman Gallery, Reading, USA
2010 Sana’a Fashion & Identity, Cultural House, Sana’a, Yemen
2010 GLAAD OUT Auction, Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, USA
2010 The Peace Project, Gallery 9, Los Angeles, USA
2010 Black & White Photography, KAS Gallery, Louisville, USA
2010 Curate NYC, Rush Arts Gallery, New York, USA
2009 Zoom on Sana’a, Jamil Ghanem Institute for Fine Art, Aden, Yemen Zoom on Sana’a – Cultural House – Sana’a, Yemen

Festivals

2019 The Arab Film Festival at the Arab American National Museum, Dearborn
2017 The Eighth Karama Human Rights Film Festival, Amman, Jordan
2017 The Twelfth Twin Cities Arab Film Festival, Minneapolis, USA
2016 The thirteenth Short Arab Film Festival, Beirut, Lebanon

Residencies

2022 Create Change Residency, The Laundromat Project, New York, USA
2021 Silver Art Projects, Digital Cohort, New York, USA
2020 Arab American National Museum, Dearborn
2020 Soma Art, Berlin, Germany
2017 Darat al-Funun, LAB Space, Amman, Jordan
2016 The Lab Space at Darat Al Funun, Amman, Jordan
2016 Beirut Art Residency, Beirut, Lebanon
2015 GlogaAir, Berlin, Germany
2014 Cite Internationale des Art, Paris, France

Acquisitions

The British Museum, London, UK
Colorado College, Colorado Springs, USA
Arab American National Museum, Dearborn, USA
Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE
Durham University Oriental Museum, Durham, UK

Awards & Grants

2021 City Artists Corps Grant
2019 Wijhat Mobility, Culture Resources
2017 Red Bull Middle East
2016 Arab Funds for Arts and Culture (AFAC)
2014 Institut Français, Paris