Elham Khattab is an arts manager, curator, and researcher whose work focuses on the intersection of art and technology, aiming to support and promote under-recognized artists in Egypt and North Africa.
In her early career as a fine arts graduate, Khattab concentrated on contemporary art in her curatorial work. During this period, she founded Out Of The Circle to support Egyptian artists. She has always been fascinated by how technology affects and interacts with art, particularly in North Africa and the Middle East, where artists use these technologies to present their works, identities, and countries through new media and digital art. Presenting the stories and voices of young artists from her region remains a central focus of her practice.
Since 2013, Khattab has organized and curated numerous new media and digital art festivals, exhibitions, and research projects. Her curatorial work extended beyond Egypt to North Africa in 2017 when she collaborated on the DIGI MENA mapping research project with curators from North Africa and the support of the Goethe Institute. This DIGI MENA aimed to map under- recognized artists working during times of transformation in North Africa and the Middle East. Internationally, she curated projects in Syria before the war and since 2019, she has curated exhibitions in Germany and Sweden. She also curated the digital art festival in Cairo for two editions, inviting international guests from Europe, the UK, Africa, and the United States. Through these experiences and her work with Out Of The Circle, Khattab aims to establish a platform for digital artists, linking and building communities, presenting work through exhibitions and events, promoting through partnerships, and providing research opportunities via the Out Of The Circle International Arts Residency in Cairo.
As the director of Out Of The Circle, Khattab has participated in several arts management, curation, and exchange programs in Egypt, the Middle East, and abroad. In 2008, she was nominated for the International Visitor Leadership Program by the US Department of State. She also participated in the British Council’s Cultural Leadership International Program in 2012, completing short courses in curating and art criticism at the University of the Arts in London. As part of the CrossCulture Programme (CCP) of the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (IFA), she completed a curating internship in the art mediation department at Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst in Leipzig, Germany, in October/November 2012. Additionally, she completed a research residency with Pro Helvetia, focusing on digital arts in Geneva, Zurich, and Basel in 2015, and a curating residency at the ZK/U Center for Art and Urbanistics in Berlin in 2022.
Elham Khattab graduated from The Devos Institute, a global arts management fellowship in Washington D.C. She is currently a cohort member of the MBA Arts Innovation program with the Global Leaders Institute in the United States.
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