Aseel AlYaqoub is an artist, researcher and writer based in Kuwait. Her artistic practice revolves around the intricate interplay of geographic identities, collective memories, and socio-political hierarchies. She draws from an ever-expanding repertoire of references to meticulously investigate the diverse perspectives on identity, culture and nation that arise from forgotten narratives, colonial documents and alternative cartographies. The work is manifested into a platform for discourse and record through various mediums – such as sculptural objects, drawings, installations, videos, and text – to challenge the presumed permanence of national culture and shed light on the histories marginalized in their Construction.
AlYaqoub holds an MFA from Pratt Institute in New York and a BA from Chelsea College of Art in London. She co-curated the Kuwait Pavilion, 17th International Architecture Exhibition at La Biennale di Venezia (Space Wars, 2021) and co-won the first Art Jameel Commission (Contrary Life, 2018). She has participated in exhibitions worldwide, including Archive Assembly, Berlin (2023), McIntosh Gallery, Ontario (2023), the 3rd Karachi Biennale, Pakistan (2022), Foreman Gallery, Quebec (2021), Art Claims Impulse, Berlin (2021), The Media Majlis at Northwestern University, Doha (2020), 24th Biennial of Humor and Satire, Gabrovo (2018), Boiler Room/Pierogi Gallery, Brooklyn (2015), and Edge of Arabia, London (2013). In Kuwait, she exhibits at The Sultan Gallery, Contemporary Art Platform, and the Museum of Modern Art.
Her work and essays are included in publications such as “Architecture of the Territory: Constructing National Narratives in the Arab World” edited by Collective for Architecture (Lebanon), “Deserts Are Not Empty” edited by Samia Henni, “Iridescent Kuwait: Petro-Modernity and Urban Visual Culture Since the Mid-Twentieth Century” by Laura Hindelang and “Pfeil Magazine” by Montez Press. She presented her research at the Preston H.Thomas Memorial Lectures at Cornell University, the National Museum of Qatar, Abu Dhabi Art, and Nuqat Conference. Her work can be found in permanent collections, including the Barjeel Art Foundation and the Art Jameel Collection.
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