Ali Kaaf

Ali Kaaf
Kaaf in 2021.
Born1977 (age 47–48)
Oran, Algeria
Known forvisual art
Websitealikaaf.com

Ali Kaaf (born 1977)[1] is a Syrian-born German visual artist. His artistic style focuses on pictorial language, and works to connect the worlds of Beirut, Berlin, and the United States.

Education

Kaaf studied Visual Art from 1994 to 1998 at the Institut des Beaux-Arts in Beirut and at the Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK) from 2000 to 2005.[2] His academic teachers there were Marwan Kassab-Bachi and Rebecca Horn.[3][4]

Career

In 2022, Kaaf's installation I Am a Stranger: Twofold a Stranger was exhibited at the Museum of Islamic Art in the Pergamon Museum Berlin. The installation is an interpretation of the 8th century Islamic Mshatta Façade.[2]

Kaaf has presented his work in artist talks, lectures, and workshops, at Montana State University Billings (2019) and the British Museum in London (2019) where he participated in the symposium Syria and Yemen: making art today with Anna Wallace-Thompson, Buthayna Ali, Fadi Yazigi, and Kevork Mourad.[5] In 2020, Kaaf was awarded The Artist in Residence Program of Germany’s Foreign Ministry in cooperation with the Regional Association of Berlin Galleries. It was the first in-house residence program of a German ministry. Between 2015–22 Kaaf was a lecturer at the *foundationClass in Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin, Germany.[6]

Work

Kaaf’s works engage in dialogue with cultures and disciplines and, beyond them, through interdisciplinary collaborations, to Gesamtkunstwerke, syntheses of the arts. Examples include a 2018 video installation on 48 Variations for Two Pianos by John McGuire (Festival ME_MMIX 2018[7]) in the Es Baluard Museum for Modern and Contemporary Art in Palma; in 2015, Intima, a dance project in collaboration with Dawson Dance SF and the choreographer David Dawson, San Francisco, and the composers Ashraf Kateb and Kinan Azmeh; and his recurrent collaboration since 2011 with the glassblower James Mongrain in Seattle; the products are flowing sculptural forms cooled to glass with titles like Helmet, Tattoo, and Larynx (2014), which correspond with his works on paper (Rift, Dress, Wall, and Burn Trace).

Kaaf’s works include Rift (a collection of works on paper, 2001-ongoing); Helmet (sculpture and glassblowing, 2011-24); I Know the Emptiness of this House, (installation, 2023), Those swept away by the waters / rose up as clouds (video installation in collaboration with filmmaker Khaled Mzher, 2022); Ich bin Fremder. Zweifach Fremder, (installation 2021); The Byzantine Corner, (2018-20); 48 Variations for Two Pianos (video installation in collaboration with John McGuire, 2018)[8]; Box of Pain (video installation, 2016); Larynx (glassblowing, 2014); Scherben Mantra (video installation, 2013); Metal (video); Mihrab (graphite and pigment on paper, 2006-08); Ras Ras (photography, 2004-09).

Exhibitions

Kaaf’s work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions internationally at Documenta fifteen (Kassel)[9], Doha Design at the Qatar Museums (Doha)[10] Maknana: An Archeology of New Media Art in the Arab World at Diriyah Art Futures (Riyadh); Taswir – Pictorial Mappings of Islam and Modernity at Martin-Gropius-Bau (Berlin)[11]; among others in Europe, the Middle East and North America.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

  • 2023 I Know the Emptiness of this House, Darat Al Funun, Amman, Jordan[12]
  • 2021 I Am a Stranger: Twofold a Stranger, Museum of Islamic Art, The Pergamon Museum, Berlin, Germany[13]
  • 2018 Dins un garbell no es pot guardar el sol, Galeria Maior, Palma, Spain[14]
  • 2016 Box of Pain, Kühlhaus Berlin, Germany[15]
  • 2007 Schwarz, Galerie Haus am Lützowplatz, Berlin, Germany[16]
  • 2004 Aswad, Darat Al Funun – The Khalid Shoman Foundation, Amman, Jordan[17]

Selected Group Exhibitions

  • 2025 Maknana: An Archeology of New Media Art in the Arab World. Curated by Ala Younis and Haytham Nawar., 2025, Diriyah Art Futures (DAF), Riyadh, KSA
  • 2025/24 Ayyam Gallery, Art Dubai, UAE[18]
  • 2024 Design Doha Biennial, M7, Qatar Museums, Doha, Qata[19]
  • 2022 documenta fifteen, Kassel, Germany[20]
  • 2022 Downfalls – From Dystopia to Disruption, Kunsthalle Trier, Germany[21]
  • 2016 The Red Gaze, Zilberman Gallery, Berlin, Germany[22]
  • 2016 As If, At Home, Artists in Europe, Freiraum in der Box, Berlin, Germany[23]
  • 2015 “Ortstermin mit Leoni Wirth - Modelle und Entwürfe aus dem Atelier von Leoni Wirth und zeitgenössische Positionen zu Abstraktion und Moderne”, Kunsthaus Dresden, Germany[24]

Awards and Residencies

  • 2023 Artist in residence, Darat al Funun, Amman, Jordan[26]
  • 2023 KUNSTFONDS_Stipendium, Stiftung Kunstfonds, Bonn, Germany[27]
  • 2020 Artist in Residence, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Landesverband Berliner Galerien (LVBG), Berlin, Germany[28]
  • 2015 Artist-in-Residence, Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, California, USA
  • 2014 Honorary AIR Awardees, Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, California, USA
  • 2010 Young Collectors for MAXXI[29] 2010, Young Collectors Association - Fair ROMA, The Road to Contemporary Art, Rome, Italy
  • 2005–2006 Solidere's Artists in Residence Program, Beirut, Lebanon
  • 2004 German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The prize for Outstanding International Students, assigned by UdK Berlin, Germany

Collections

Kaaf’s work is found in international public collections including:

Public Collections (selection)

  • MAXXI - Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Roma / MAXXI - Nationalmuseum für die Kunst des XXI. Jahrhunderts, Rome, Italy  
  • Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany  
  • Darat Al Funun – The Khalid Shoman Foundation in Amman
  • Qatar Museums, Doha, Qatar  
  • Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, USA
  • Darat Al Funun – The Khalid Shoman Foundation, Amman, Jordan

Publications

References

  1. ^ "Ali Kaaf: The Byzantine Corner. Nafas Art Magazine". universes.art. Retrieved 2024-04-09.
  2. ^ a b Berlin, Staatliche Museen zu. "Ali Kaaf". www.smb.museum. Retrieved 2024-04-09.
  3. ^ Brockschmidt, Rolf (2022-01-31). "Islamische Kunstgeschichte auf der Berliner Museumsinsel: Tor zur Welt". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). ISSN 1865-2263. Retrieved 2023-08-19.
  4. ^ AbuNada, Roa’a (2023-05-15). "Ali Kaaf: A journey through contrasts and reflections". Jordan News – jordannews.jo. Retrieved 2023-08-19.
  5. ^ Symposium, British Museum. "Syria and Yemen: Making Art Today".
  6. ^ borosadmin (2017-08-09). "*foundationClass". The Power of the Arts. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  7. ^ "Festival ME_MMIX 2018" (in Spanish). esbaluard.org. Retrieved 2020-05-14.
  8. ^ "Festival ME_MMIX 2018". Es Baluard. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  9. ^ "Announcement of further invited participants by the lumbung members and artists of documenta fifteen". documenta fifteen. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  10. ^ Fabrique. "Qatar Museums Unveils Line-Up of Designers and Exhibitions for Inaugural Edition of Design Doha". Qatar Museums. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  11. ^ "Taswir". www.berlinerfestspiele.de. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  12. ^ "I Know the Emptiness of this House | Darat al Funun". daratalfunun.org. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  13. ^ Berlin, Staatliche Museen zu. "Ali Kaaf". www.smb.museum. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  14. ^ "Galería Maior - Ali Kaaf - Dins un garbell no es pot guardar el sol". Galeria Maior. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  15. ^ "KühlhausBerlin | ali kaaf – box of pain". Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  16. ^ "SCHWARZ : Haus am Lützowplatz". www.hal-berlin.de. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  17. ^ "Aswad (Black) | Darat al Funun". daratalfunun.org. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  18. ^ Talamanca, Pietro Paolo. "Ayyam Gallery". Art Dubai. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  19. ^ Fabrique. "Qatar Museums Unveils Line-Up of Designers and Exhibitions for Inaugural Edition of Design Doha". Qatar Museums. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  20. ^ "Announcement of further invited participants by the lumbung members and artists of documenta fifteen". documenta fifteen. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  21. ^ "Downfalls – From Dystopia to Disruption". EKA Kunsthalle. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  22. ^ "THE RED GAZE - EXHIBITIONS". www.zilbermangallery.com. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  23. ^ "As if, at Home - Artists in Europe". Freiraum in der Box (in German). Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  24. ^ "Kunsthaus Dresden – Ortstermin mit Leoni Wirth". kunsthausdresden.de (in German). Archived from the original on 2024-06-15. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  25. ^ "Taswir". www.berlinerfestspiele.de. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  26. ^ "I Know the Emptiness of this House | Darat al Funun". daratalfunun.org. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  27. ^ "NEUSTARTplus Stipendien". www.kunstfonds.de (in German). Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  28. ^ Federal Foreign Office and LVBG present scholarship holders of the year 2020 and documentation 2019
  29. ^ "Ali Kaaf Künstler, YC youngcollectors - Das besondere Objekt - Editionen und Unikate von Kunstwerken konkreter Kunst". YC youngcollectors.
  30. ^ "Ali Kaaf". Hatje Cantz. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  31. ^ "Taswir - Islamische Bildwelten und Moderne von Bruckstein, Almut S - Gebundene Ausgabe". www.medimops.de (in German). Retrieved 2025-07-13.
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