Walid Raad

Distinguished Visiting Professor of Photography

Academic Program Affiliation(s): Photography

Biography: Walid Raad is a Beirut- and New York–based artist whose works—spanning photography, video, mixed media installations, and performance—explore how historical events of physical and psychological violence affect bodies, minds, and culture. These works include The Atlas Group, a 15-year project (1989–2004) on the contemporary history of his native Lebanon, with an emphasis on the civil wars of 1975 to 1990. Raad found and produced audio, visual, and literary documents that shed light on this history. Other projects include Sweet Talk: Commissions (1987–2006), photographs of Beirut’s residents, buildings, streets, stairs, squares, monuments, storefronts, and gardens; and Scratching on Things I Could Disavow, an ongoing project about the history of art in the “Arab” world. His work has been featured in solo exhibitions at institutions including the Louvre (Paris), Museum of Modern Art (New York), Institute of Contemporary Art (Boston), Hamburger Kunsthalle (Hamburg), Museo Nacional Thyssen Bornemisza (Madrid), Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam), Moderna Museet (Stockholm), and Whitechapel Gallery (London). Professor Raad’s works have also been shown at Documenta 11 and 13 (Germany), Venice Biennale, Whitney Biennial, Sao Paulo Bienal, Istanbul Biennial, and other venues across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas. He is the recipient of multiple grants, prizes, and awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, ICP Infinity Award, Hasselblad Award, Rockefeller Fellowship, and Aachener Kunstpreis. He previously taught at the Cooper Union School of Art, Queens College, and Hampshire College.

BFA, Rochester Institute of Technology; MA, PhD, University of Rochester. At Bard: 2023–24 .

 
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