Issue #75 Being Wael Shawky
There are moments when an artist’s work moves beyond exhibitions and institutions to become part of a wider cultural conversation. This is such a moment for Wael Shawky. Decades of research, experimentation, and teaching converge in a practice at once lucid, fearless, and historically alive.
Over twenty years, Shawky has forged a singular, rigorous practice. From early video and performance to the Cabaret Crusades trilogy (2010–2015), he finds the point of catharsis between patient scholarship and poetic form. His work unfolds slowly; its gravity seizes attention, evoking respect as if by instinct. Observation is precise and generous; research, methodical and uncompromising, treating history as contested terrain, as a medium in its own right.
Shawky extends his practice beyond the studio, shaping cultural infrastructure with the same precision he brings to his artistic work. He founded MASS Alexandria in 2010 as an independent studio and study programme in his hometown, establishing an early model for critical education and collective practice. Since 2024, at the Fire Station in Doha, he has directed residency and learning programmes grounded in mentorship, peer dialogue, and cross-disciplinary exchange, continuing his long-standing commitment to artistic pedagogy within an international context.
This monograph arrives at a decisive moment. In 2024, Shawky represented Egypt at the Venice Biennale with Drama 1882, a film and operatic installation revisiting the Urabi Revolution and the complexities of colonial modernity. His forthcoming role in curating the inaugural Art Basel Doha further situates him at the centre of a transforming regional and international art ecology. Recent institutional presentations — from I Am Hymns of the New Temples at LUMA Arles to exhibitions in South Korea and Seoul — alongside sustained collaborations with leading cultural platforms, confirm a practice that moves with quiet authority between history and the present, scholarship and imagination, and continues to shape contemporary discourse.
