About the artist
Monira Al Qadiri (b. 1983, Dakar, Senegal) is a Kuwaiti artist educated in Japan. Spanning sculpture, installation, film and performance, Al Qadiri’s multifaceted practice is mainly based on research into the cultural histories of the Gulf region. Her interpretation of the Gulf’s “petro-culture” is manifested through speculative scenarios that take inspiration from science fiction, autobiography, traditional practices and pop culture, resulting in uncanny and covertly subversive works. She currently lives and works in Berlin.
Her solo exhibitions include “Deep Fate” (Kiasma Museum, Helsinki, 2025); “The Archaeology of Beasts” (Bozar, Brussels, 2024); “Benzene Float” (Halle Verriere, Meisenthal 2024); “Haunted Water” (UCCA Dune, China, 2023), “Mutant Passages” (Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria, 2023); “Holy Quarter” (Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, 2022); “Refined Vision” (Blaffer Art Museum, Houston, 2022); “Holy Quarter” (Haus der Kunst, Munich, 2020); “Empire Dye” (Kunstverein Göttingen, 2019); “The Craft” (Gasworks, London, 2017); “Attempts to Read the World Differently” (Stroom Den Haag, the Hague, 2017); “Muhawwil” (Sultan Gallery, Kuwait, 2014). Select group exhibitions include Sharjah Biennial 16 (Sharjah, 2025); Desert X Al Ula (Al Ula, 2024); 24th Biennial of Sydney (Sydney, 2023-24); 8th Boras Biennial (Sweden, 2024); Sharjah Biennial 15 (Sharjah, 2023); 15th Triennial of Small Sculpture, Fellbach (2022); Asia Art Biennial, Taiwan (2021); Dubai Expo 2020 (2021); “Our World is Burning” (Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 2020); “Theater of Operations: The Gulf Wars” (MoMA PS1, New York, 2019-20); Asia Pacific Triennial (Brisbane, 2018); Lulea Biennial (Sweden, 2018); Athens Biennial (Athens, 2018). In 2022, Al Qadiri was featured in the Venice Biennale’s central exhibition “The Milk of Dreams.”