Aysha E Arar

Aysha E Arar is a Palestinian artist born in 1993. She received her BFA with honors from the HaMidrasha Faculty of Arts - Beit Berl College in 2018.

The artist uses painting, video, performance and poetry; she paints on paper, canvas and on the wall, moving from narrative to abstract painting, where she combines imaginary creatures based on Palestinian legends. At the center of her practice lies her own identity. She practices an art of resistance to oppression through the power of images and voice, a quest for freedom and its meaning. In her own words, « I don’t know how to draw realistic paintings, I draw from the world of imagination and fantasy. This allows me to merge imagination with reality and all the contradictions that I live in ».

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Aysha E Arar has had solo exhibitions at Sans titre, Paris (2024); Dvir Gallery, Tel Aviv, Paris & Brussels (2024 & 2023); 디스위켄드룸 ThisWeekendRoom, Seoul (2024); Beit HaGefen, Haifa (2023); Hayarkon 19, Tel Aviv (2022); Givat Haviva Art Gallery (2021). Next year, the artist will have a solo exhibition at Château de Rochechouart, Musée d’art contemporain de la Haute-Vienne (February 2025) and at CC Strombeek, Grimbergen (October 2025).

Her work has been shown in group exhibitions at Kunsthaus Baselland, Münchenstein (2024); MO.CO. Panacée, Montpellier (2024); Cooper Cole, Toronto (2024); Sans titre, Paris (2024, 2022 & 2021); TAGELDIMDE / MIDDELGATE, Geel (2023); Edmond de Rothschild Center, Tel Aviv (2022); Umm al-Fahm Gallery (2022); Alfred Institute for Art and Culture, Tel Aviv (2021); Kultur Forum Dresden e.V., Dresden (2021); Albertinum Museum, Dresden (2021); Artura Gallery, Kfar Monash (2021); Balkont Gallery, Tel Aviv (2019); Dvir Gallery, Tel Aviv (2018); Ethiopian Embassy, Tel Aviv (2017); Helena Rubinstein Pavilion for Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv Museum, Tel Aviv (2017); Tel Aviv Cinematheque, Tel Aviv (2016); Excellence Project of the Jewish Festival, Krakow (2016).

Aysha E Arar’s works are featured in the collections of significant institutions and museums, including Lafayette Anticipations - Fonds de dotation Famille Moulin (Paris, France), FRAC Corsica (Corte) and SMAK - Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (Ghent, Belgium).

exhibition view, In Between, 2024, Kunsthaus Baselland

exhibition view, Being Mediterranean, 2024, MO.CO. Panacée, Montpellier

It was just a cup of coffee, 2018, spray paint on fabric, 173 x 523 cm, unique

exhibition view, Dear red bird, look at me in the eyes, 2024, Sans titre, Paris

Give us our childhood, 2024, acrylic on tablecloth, 137 x 153 cm, unique

Marhaba farasha (Hello butterfly), 2024, song and lyrics composed by Aysha E Arar, music by Sulafa Elyas & Ana Khalife, performance at Sans titre, Paris. © Myriam Cohenca

Can sadness be written in one word?, 2024, acrylic on tablecloth, 146 x 137 cm, unique

Moqatila, 2024, acrylic on canvas, fabric, 196 x 127 cm, unique

exhibition view, Dear red bird, look at me in the eyes, 2024, Sans titre, Paris

exhibition view, There was love, there was death and there was you, 2024, Dvir Gallery, Paris

It was difficult to remain human despite all this, but I survived, 2023, charcoal, ballpoint pen, and pastel on Kafan, 258 x 230 cm, unique

exhibition view, There was love, there was death and there was you, 2024, Dvir Gallery, Paris

Guernica, 2023, acrylic on dress, 205 x 138 cm, unique

exhibition view, Art-O-Rama 2023, Marseille with Sans titre

I didn’t invite you to come, but you are here, entering my castle without permission, I did not hear you knocking the door but hearing your heart beat was so clear. Welcome to my castle but be careful. Do you think you are brave enough to fight this battle of love? (detail), 2023, spray, pastel and charcoal on fabric, 180 x 1500 cm, unique