Adra Kandil
b. 1993, Lebanon

"Nostalgia drives into our dreaming. Nostalgia is romantic, delicate yet loud. Like everything else, we take on light and color from outside ourselves and blend into one shade, together, as one. You're the sky, not a cloud. I'm the cloud. I gather and dissipate, but you are always here. Leave a message for me if you can. Watch the lilac blossom. Listen to the scratches of the vinyl and then the music. Then dance on and remember. Remember every moment, every memory, every photograph, just remember."

Lebanese artist Adra Kandil embodies a hybrid world of alternate realities, utilizing photography, collages, typography, and digital montages to blend modern-day truths with the romanticism of collective nostalgia.

Booming on Instagram as her digital canvas, Adra combines cosmic, dreamy images and culturally relevant cues, delving into controversial discussions via powerful visuals and thought-provoking mediums. Her digital art, upon first gaze, seems like an ethereal reverie, but once processed, the viewer begins to understand her strong resonation and the message her work aims to portray.

Her artworks have been showcased in numerous exhibitions worldwide, leaving a mark in creative hubs such as Beirut, California, Paris, Switzerland, New York, Amsterdam, Montreal, and Barcelona. Beyond her artistic endeavors, Adra has been actively involved in collaborations with NGOs and has served as a resident artist for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Moreover, she has collaborated with multinational brands, including Gucci, Chanel, Roberto Cavalli, Adidas, Dana Hourani, Womena, Jamalouki Magazine, and Ounass.

Equipped with old magazines and collected archives, using digital tools like Photoshop, Kandil’s skills, and vivid imagination allow her to explore her inner world through digital surrealism. Her alias "Dear Nostalgia" is a letter to a place that never was.

"My memories are amplified and seem much better than they really were," she says. "I romanticize memories. That’s the thing with time passing: It glorifies what you once had. I construct from that feeling—the happiness, the melancholy; all of it."

Credentials

International group exhibitions
Award winner
Museum exhibitions

Education

2017-2018 MA in Coolhunting, Global Trends, and Innovation For Design, Elisava - University School of Design and Engineering of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
2014-2017 BA in Creative Adverstising and Branding, IED Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
2011 High School Diploma, ACS Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon

Selected Exhibitions

2021 'NFT M.E.', Emergeast NFT exhibition, Open Sea
2021 'Echoes From Lebanon', I Have Learned Academy x KAS Germany, Virtual Exhibition
2020 'BaselxBeirut', Basel, Switzerland
2020 'Li Watani', Paris, France
2020 Restaurant Elixier, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2020 'Artist of The Month', Hook Cafe, Beirut, Lebanon
2020 The 961 collective, La Belle Epoque Event, Montreal, Canada
2020 'Exotica Flora', Leo Burnett, Beirut Lebanon
2020 'The Silent Leaders Exhibition', Beit Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
2020 Artist of the month 2020, Hook Cafe, Beirut, Lebanon
2019 'Twilight City', Sage Parlour, Beirut, Lebanon
2019 Cub Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon
2019 Beirut Design Week, Design and Nostalgia Edition, Beirut, Lebanon
2019 Five3 Gallery, California, USA
2019 'Edition 1 and 2', Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, Lebanon
2018 'Paper Garden', 6BC Botanical Garden of NYC, New York, USA
2018 'TEDXWOMEN', Barcelona, Spain
2018 National Museum of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

Awards

2021 'Collaging a Gender-Equal Future' Finalist, European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed)
2019 Winner of a Silver LAUS Award, Barcelona, Spain
Winner of rank in 50 most outstanding students of IED Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

Press

2021 Beirut City Guide, Stuff We Love
2021 UNDP Peace Supplement
2021 Grazia Magazine, '5 female creatives that are making waves in the region'
2020 Scene Arabia, Interview
2020 Arab News, Nostalgia in Arab Art Interview
2020 MEAD magazine interview
2020 The Modern East, Artist of the day feature
2020 Vice Arabia, Miraa is for Women
2020 Grazia Magazine

Publications

UNDP Peace Building Supplement, Beirut, Lebanon - November 2021
Cover and Campaign for Chanel No.5 100th - Jamalouki Magazine, December 2021
Cover art for ArabPop Magazine, Italy, August 2021
Full Gucci Lookbook 2021- Jamalouki Magazine, June 2021
UNDP Peace Supplement, Artwork Feature, Beirut, Lebanon, January 2021
Zahrat Al Khaleej Magazine, Interview Feature, January 2021
Latin-Arab Film Festival, Buenos Aires, Argentina, October 2020
Local Foreigner Petry Book by Amanda Dufour, Artwork Commissions, July 2020
Elle Arabia, Artwork Feature, April 2020
The Silent Leaders Book, Four Artworks Features, February 2020