Mohamed Abla Egyptian, b. 1953
Mohamed Abla was born in 1953 in Belqas in the Egyptian Nile Delta. After studying fine arts in Alexandria, he moved to Europe, where he studied sculpture and printmaking in Vienna and Zurich and finally found a second home in Walsrode in Lower Saxony.
His first solo exhibition was held in 1979 at the Hohmann Gallery in Walsrode, followed by exhibitions at, to name a few, the Ewat Gallery in Leeuwarden, Netherlands in 1989, the Art Hall in Örebro, Sweden in 1991 and the Egyptian Academy in Rome. In 1994 he won the first prize of the Kuwait Biennial and in 1997 the Grand Prix of the Alexandria Biennial in Egypt. This was followed by other international exhibitions, including the Havana Biennial, the British Museum in London and the Kunstmuseum Bonn.
Teaching at a variety of international institutions led him to found the Fayoum Art Center in 2007. Today it is an establishment where young artists from all over the world live and work together. In 2009, he opened the first caricature museum in the Middle East and North Africa. After the 2011 revolution, Mohamed Abla was elected to the Committee of 50 that wrote Egypt’s new constitution.
EDUCATION
1985-87, Awarded a scholarship to study in Basel, Switzerland
1980-82, Studied Graphics and Sculpture in Switzerland and Austria and opened a studio in Zurich for painting therapy
1978, Beginning of Art and Scholastic trip in Europe
1973, Graduated From The Faculty of Fine Arts in Alexandria (Painting)
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021, Affinity, Safar Khan Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
2021, Earthly Treasures, Tabari Artspace, Dubai, UAE
2017, The Silk Road, Tabari Artspace, Dubai, UAE
2012, My Family, Tabari Artspace, Dubai, UAE
2007, Cairo, Tabari Artspace, Dubai, UAE
2004, Cairo...Portraits of a City, Zamalek Art Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
2002, Conviviality--The Nile & the Trees, Zamalek Art Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
1999, Scenes from Vermont (scenes from a 1998 visit), Gallery Arabesque, US
1998, The Nile, Goethe Institute, Cairo, exhibited at Hart Gallery, Carmel, California, US
1995, Video Exhibition at El Hanager, Mashrabia Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
1992, Exhibition for the Opening of Gallery Cairo, Berlin, Germany
1991, Exhibition, Art Hall Orebro-Sweden
Exhibition, the Egyptian Academy, Rome, Italy
1989, Exhibition, Gallery Ewat, Lewarden, The Netherlands
1978-79, Solo Exhibition, Hohmann Gallery, Walsrode, Germany
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024, Hudood: Rethinking boundaries, The Brunei Gallery, SOAS Bloomsbury, London, UK
2023, Confluence, Safar Khan Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
2021, Spectrum: Summer Collection 2021, Safar Khan Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
2019, The Collector’s Eye VI, Ubuntu Art Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
2008, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Marseilles, France/Zamalek Art Gallery
Labyrinth, Cairo, Egypt
2007, Occidentalism: The West as Seen by Egyptian Artists, Espace Karim Francis, Cairo, Egypt
2006, Contemporary Egyptian Art at the National Museum of Modern Art, Bonn, Germany
2005, Zamalek Art Gallery, "Nostalgia", Cairo, Egypt; Group Exhibition, The British Museum, London, UK; Int'l Art Exhibition in Muscat, Oman, Exhibition of '30 Years of His Art,' Gallery Hohman, Germany
1993, Graphic Exhibition at A.U.0 in Cairo/ Grenchan Graphic Triennials, Switzerland; Mashrabia Gallery, Cairo
BIENNIALS
2003, The 4th Egypt International Triennale of Graphics, Cairo, Egypt; The 8th Havana Biennial of Contemporary Art, Havana, Cuba
1997, The 19th Alexandria Biennale, Alexandria, Cairo, Egypt
1996, The 6th Cairo International Art Biennale, Cairo, Egypt
1993, The 1st international Sharjah Biennial for Contemporary Art, Sharjah, UAE
COLLECTIONS
Dalloul Art Foundation, Beirut, Lebanon
Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
The British Museum, London, UK
ART FAIRS
2018, 1-54 Art Fair, London, UK (Tabari Artspace)
ACHIEVEMENTS
2022, Goethe Medal of Honour of the Federal Republic of Germany for International Cultural Exchange
1999, Awarded the Honour Prize in the 3rd Egypt International Triennale of Graphic Art
1997, Awarded the Grand Prix at the Alexandria Art Biennale in Cairo
1996, Awarded the First Prize at the Kuwait Art Biennale
1994, Erection of the Sisyphus statue, at Walsrode, Germany
SELECTED PRESS
2021, Stones, masks and matches: A decade of Middle Eastern art. A new book by the British Museum's Middle East art curator Venetia Porter presents an eclectic set of artworks evoking the region's recent history, Middle East Eye
2017, The Magical East: Egyptian Artist Mohamed Abla Explores The Silk Road, Harper's Bazaar Arabia
2017, New exhibition: Tales from the Silk Road, Dubai. Mohamed Abla's new exhibition invites viewers to cast their minds back in time, Esquire
2016, A Bright Spot in an Otherwise Darkened Egypt, The Art Newspaper
PUBLICATIONS
2021, Reflections: Contemporary Art of the Middle East & North Africa, Dr Venetia Porter
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A Journey Through the Nile, Abu Dhabi Art
Adam Henein, Omar El Nagdy, and Mohamed Abla 15 - 22 November 2022In the formative years of her journey, Maliha Tabari, founder of Tabari Artspace, frequented Egyptian studios, becoming acquainted with the renowned late artist Adam Henein (1929-2000), as well as emerging...Explore -
Earthly Treasures
Mohamed Abla 10 November 2021 - 24 January 2022This three-month exhibition marked Mohamed Abla’s fifth solo show with Tabari Artspace. Channelling Abla’s unique optimism the aim of this presentation was to capture imaginations and unite generations through the artist’s mesmeric world.Explore -
The Silk Road
Mohamad Abla 10 October - 24 November 2017Tabari Artspace Gallery presented the solo exhibition of one of Egypt’s most influential and established contemporary artists, Mohamed Abla. The Silk Road includes a selection of abstract artworks which synthesise calligraphy, collage and traditional Middle Eastern techniques which explore folktales from North Africa, the Levant, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent.Explore
