Sirine Fattouh (b. 1980) is a feminist visual artist, researcher, and dedicated biker whose work bridges personal and collective histories, often through the medium of film, video installations, and sculptural works. Her practice is deeply rooted in exploring fragmented memories of conflict, especially in relation to the Middle East, and offers a critical lens on issues of identity, exile, and the Arab diaspora. Fattouh’s work foregrounds intimate narratives that confront colonial legacies and challenge patriarchal structures, drawing on personal testimonies and oral histories that extend beyond her own.

Her films function as living archives, designed to serve as resources for future generations of artists and scholars interested in marginalized narratives. By crafting these works, she aims to provide a counter-history that questions established narratives and highlights the complex identities of Arab women. Influenced by Homi Bhabha’s concept of cultural hybridity, her work navigates a 'third space' that redefines identity and the self amidst diasporic experiences.

Fattouh’s use of distance and subtlety in representation resists spectacle, choosing instead to reveal the invisible consequences of war, exile, and trauma. Her installations invite viewers to consider the intersection of the intimate and the political, creating a dialogue around how societies remember and process collective trauma.

PhD in Fine Arts and Art Sciences from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UFR 04), she has been teaching since 2005 in various universities and art schools in Lebanon and France. Since 2021 she is teaching Art at the École supérieure d’Art d’Avignon.

Her work has been showcased at various prestigious venues, including La galerie, centre d’art contemporain of Noisy le Sec (France), Sursock Museum (Beirut, Lebanon), Centre Pompidou (Metz, France), MAXXI Museum (Rome, Italy),  Fondation d'Entreprise Ricard (Paris, France), Akinci Gallery (Amsterdam, Netherlands), Kaaï Studio (Brussels, Belgium), Beirut Art Center (Beirut, Lebanon), Mucem (Marseille, France), ZKM (Karlsruhe, Germany), Edge of Arabia (Brick Lane, London), La Villa Savoye of Le Corbusier (Poissy, France), l'Institut du monde arabe (Paris, France) and the Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art (Thessaloniki, Greece).

NEWS:

Streaming of Behind the Shield on ShashaMovies for one month.

Work in Public Collections

• A Night in Beirut and Another Night in Beirut, Centre national des arts plastiques (Cnap), France.

• A Night in Beirut and Another Night in Beirut, Saudi Arabia Museum of Contemporary Art (SAMOCA), Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.

• Entre les ruines, MAXXI Museum, Rome, Italy.

• Work on Paper, Beirut Museum of Art (BEMA), Beirut, Lebanon.

• Mirages, the State Museum of Algier (MAMA), Algeria.

• Frac Normandie, France.

• The Last Supper, The State Museum of Contemporary Art (SMCA), Thessaloniki, Greece.

• A Night In Beirut, Nadour Collection, Germany.

2017

• First Prize Photomed, Lebanon

Individual Exhibitions and Performances

2023

• Unpredictable Times, La galerie, centre d’art contemporain de Noisy le Sec, France.

2019

• Solo Show at Letitia Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon.

2017

• Une histoire du Liban à travers les œuvres de ses artistes et cinéastes, Fondation d'Entreprise Ricard, Paris, France and Kaai Theater, Brussels, Belgium.

• Screening of Lost and Won and Walking Borders at Gessnerallee, Zürich, Switzerland.

2016

• Une histoire du Liban à travers les œuvres de ses artistes et cinéastes, Musée des civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée (Mucem), Marseille, France.

2015

• La création à l'épreuve des guerres et de leurs effets : quelques aspects de l'art contemporain libanais, solo Exhibition as part of PhD thesis defense, Institut du monde arabe, Paris, France.

2010

• Errance, Roy Sfeir Gallery, Paris, France.

2008

• Vous écrire, French Institute, Beirut, Lebanon.

Collective Exhibitions and Screenings

2024

• Projection of Behind the Shield, Cinelux, Geneva, Switzerland.

• Contre ; courant, Festival Art Explora, TAP (Temporary Art Platform), Marseille, France.

• Projection of Behind the Shield, Home Works Forum 9, Intimate Garden Scene (in Beirut), Sursock Museum, Lebanon, 2024.

• Projection of Behind the Shield, Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany.

• In the Night, Saudi Arabia Museum of Contemporary Art at Jax (SAMoCA @ Jax), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

• Projection of Behind the Shield, Aswat Festival in collaboration with l’Ifpo, Cinéma Royal, Beirut, Lebanon.

• BLAST, Esthétique de l’onde de choc, la FABRIQUE, Toulouse, France.

2023

• Attaches parisiennes pour une poignée de portes, Villa de Belleville, Paris, France.

• Beirut – Letters of Resistance, Sursock Museum, Beirut, Lebanon.

• Ways of Vanishing BIENALSUR 2023, Sursock Museum, Beirut, Lebanon.

• « Faire, nager et s’envoler », La Gaya Scienza, Nice, France.

• Festival du film franco arabe, Noisy le Sec, France.

• Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin, Paris, France.

• Those Who Remain in the Dark, Art-Lab Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

• Beirut: Eternal Recurrence, SAW Gallery, Ottawa, Canada.

• Quand l'inconcevable prend forme, Galerie - Cité internationale des arts, Paris, France.

• " Actes de langage 2/3 : Choralités", Maison Populaire of Montreuil, France.

• Projection of Behind the Shield, AVIFF, Cannes and Marseille, France.

• Projection of Behind the Shield, Écrans du réel, Lebanon.

• Projection of Behind the Shield, cinéma l’Archipel, with Anne Barrault Gallery, Paris, France.

2022

• Open Studios: Work in Slow Motion, Cité Internationale des arts, Paris, France.

• Beyrouth, les artistes et la ville. Habiter les interstices, Michel Journiac gallery, Paris, France.

• Sans Haches et Sans Fusils En collaboration avec le Frac Nouvelle-Aquitaine Méca, France.

• Kunsthaus Pasquart, Biel/Bienne, Switzerland: Parallel to her solo exhibition Building a Home with Time, Stéphanie Saadé is putting together a program of films by Lebanese artists entitled A Night in Beirut. Sirine Fattouh and Stéphanie Dadour, Marwan Moujaes, Roy Samaha and Maha Yammine have been invited to show a selection of their films, arranged in a weekly programme.

2021

• a yellow sun a black sun, curated by Karina el Helou, at Martch art project, Istanbul, Turkey.

• The Feelings We Wear, Objective Gallery, Shanghai, China.

• Everyone is the creator of one's own faith, with AD Leb, Al Tabbal Building in Sursock, Beirut, Lebanon.

• Before the Cypress Broke, with Beirut Art Residency, Void Gallery, Derry, Ireland.

2020

• Game of Goose, Curator Stéphanie Saadé, City SALTS (Box), Basel, Switzerland.

• Beirut: Year Zero, Arthaus, Beirut, Lebanon.

• PARIS : Beyrouth 24h pour le Liban, Institut du monde arabe, Paris, France.

• Qalqalah قلقلة : plus d’une langue, CRAC Occitanie, Sète, France.

• Fonction Critique 2, Aperto lieu d’art, Montpellier, France.

• Hobby at any price! Programming of artists’ films as part of the 31st Rennes metropolis Travelling film festival 2020, Auditorium du Frac Bretagne, 19 avenue André Mussat, Rennes, France.

2019

• What can a dot become? Akinci Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

• From Flood to Flight; Myths, Songs, and Other Stories, curated by Elena Sorokina, Galerie Premier Regard, Paris, France.

• An intimate landscape, Curated by Marco Trulli, MACRO – Museo di Arte Contemporanea di Roma, Rome, Italy.

• Beirut Art Fair 2019, represented by Letitia Gallery.

• Contemporary Istanbul with STUDIOCUR/ART, Istanbul, Turkey.

• C’est Beyrouth, Institut des Cultures d’Islam, Paris, France.

• Vices and Validations, Institut français de Beyrouth, Beirut, Lebanon.

• Contested landscapes, emergent archives, the Orient-Institut Beirut, Lebanon.

2018

• La Nuit à l'écran, Centre Pompidou Metz, France.

• "Résonance - partie 2", Frac Normandie Rouen, France.

• Festival Image de ville, Marseille, France.

• Festival d'art vidéo, La Fabrique des Arts, Carcassonne, France.

• Novembre Numérique: Multimedia walk in the medina of Sousse, Tunisia.

2017

• HOME BEIRUT. SOUNDING THE NEIGHBORS at MAXXI Museum, Rome, Italy.

• Partitions (Performances), Fondation Pernod Ricard, Paris, France.

• MOUSSEM CITIES: BEIRUT, Kaaistudio's, Brussels, Belgium.

• Paysages et portraits at Musée National Public d'Art Moderne et Contemporain d'Alger - MAMA, Algiers, Algeria.

• The Perfect Arab Artist, Arab Cartoon festival, De Warande, Belgium.

• Images du dessaisissement, Photomed 2017, Villa Méditerranée, Marseille, France.

• Video Works 2017, organized by Ashkal Alwan, Beirut Art Center, Beirut, Lebanon.

2016

• City and City, Parson's street front gallery, New York, United States.

2015

• Arab Territories, Constantine Capital of Arab Culture 2015, El Khalifa Palace of Culture, Constantine, Algeria.

• 19th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, Switzerland. 

2014

• Grand café - Centre d’art contemporain, Saint-Nazaire, France.

• AVIFF, Cannes, France.

2013

• Journeys through our Heritage, Beirut Exhibition Center, Beirut, Lebanon.

• Errors Allowed, Mediterranea 16 Young Artists Biennial, Ancona, Italy.

• Open Wounds, The Empty Quarter Gallery, Dubai, UAE.

• Visual Arts Festival Damascus @ ZKM Karlsruhe, Germany.

• 22e Instants vidéo, Marseille, France.

2012

• A Territory of Resistance, The Running Horse Contemporary Art Space, Beirut, Lebanon.

• # ComeTogether, With Edge of Arabia, Brick Lane, London.

• Chkoun Ahna, National Museum of Carthage, Tunisia.

2011

• 3rd Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, Greece.

• Art Sale Brunch, The Hangar - Umam D&R, Dahiyeh, Lebanon.

• Censures. Baiser la lune, Galerie Emilie Bannwarth, Paris, France.

• Saison Vidéo, Roubaix, France.

2010

• 5th Biennal of Bourges, Panorama for young creation, Bourges, France.

• Counting Thoughts, The Running Horse Contemporary Art Space, Beirut, Lebanon.

• Festival international des Très Courts, Forum des Images, Paris, France.

• SESIFF-Seoul international Extreme-Short Image & Film Festival, Seoul, Korea.

 2009

• Fonction critique, quelques apparitions diversement manifestées, APERTO, Montpellier, France.

• Exposure 2009, Beirut Art Center, Beirut, Lebanon.

• Parcours mixtes, Galerie Michel Journiac, Paris, France.

• Pol/A, Nivet-Carzon Gallery, Paris, France.

2008

• Home Works IV: A Forum on Cultural Practices, Al Madina Theatre and Métropolis Cinema, Beirut, Lebanon.

• Home? Figures des migrations, Villa des Tourelles Gallery, Nanterre, France.

• Jeune création, Espace Charlie Parker - Grande Halle of la Villette, Paris, France.

• Perdu / Gagné, Photos et Légendes Festival, Théâtre du Fil de l’eau, Pantin, France.

• ...né.à Beyrouth Festival, Empire Cinemas, Beirut, Lebanon.

• Cinemed international Mediterranean Film Festival, Montpellier, France.

• P’Silo - Images Contre Nature Festival, Marseille, France.

2007

• Proliférer, Villa Savoye of Le Corbusier, Poissy, France.

• ...né.à Beyrouth Festival, Empire Cinemas, Beirut, Lebanon.

• Paris Cinéma Festival, Filmothèque Quartier Latin, Paris, France.

2006

• Le temps des appareils, Faux Mouvement, centre d'art contemporain, Metz, France.

• Le temps des appareils, Le Cube, centre de création numérique, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France.

Other

2016

• AVIS, Artistic intervention in the Lebanese newspaper L’Orient le Jour on April 30, Work on Paper, Curator Amanda Abi Khalil, Temporary Art Platform.

• Finalist for the Karantina Park Project, TandemWorks, Beirut, Lebanon.

Residencies

2023

• Villa de Belleville, Paris, France.

• Rochon Residence with Beirut Art Residency in collaboration with Saw Center, Ottawa, Canada.

2022-2023

• Résidence 2/12, Cité internationale des Arts, Paris, France.

2018

• UV “Utopies Visuelles”, Sousse, Tunisia.

2015

• Constantine Capital of Arab Culture 2015, Constantine, Algeria.

2012

• Cité Internationale of Arts in Paris, Al-Mansouria Foundation.

2011

• 3rd Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art - Parallel Program, Thessaloniki, Greece.

2004

• Studio residency at the Maison Internationale - Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris, France.

Teaching and Juries

2023-2024

• Full-time Lecturer at ESAA, Avignon, France. Subject taught: Video art, Performance, Installation.

2022

• Full-time Lecturer at ESAA, Avignon, France. Subject taught: Video art.

• Part-time Lecturer at IESAV-USJ, Beirut, Lebanon. Subject taught: Vidéo alternative.

2021

• Part-time Lecturer at IESAV-USJ, Beirut, Lebanon. Subject taught: Vidéo alternative.

• Part-time Lecturer at USJ, Beirut, Lebanon. Subjects taught : History of video art and performance.

2020

• President of Jury for the DNSEP, École Nationale Suppérieur de Paris Cergy (ENSAPC), Cergy, France.

• Part-time Lecturer at LAU, Byblos, Lebanon. Subjects taught: Modern Art.

• Part-time Lecturer at USEK, Kaslik, Lebanon. Subjects taught: History of contemporary art.

• Part-time Lecturer at IESAV-USJ, Beirut, Lebanon. Subject taught : Vidéo alternative.

2019

• Part-time Lecturer at LAU, Byblos, Lebanon. Subjects taught: History of Art II, Modern Art.

• Part-time Lecturer at USEK, Kaslik, Lebanon. Subjects taught: History of contemporary art.

• Part-time Lecturer at IESAV-USJ, Beirut, Lebanon. Subject taught : Vidéo alternative.

2018

• Part-time Lecturer at LAU, Byblos, Lebanon. Subjects taught: Art Appreciation, History of Art II, Modern Art.

• Part-time Lecturer at USEK, Kaslik, Lebanon. Subjects taught: History of contemporary art.

• Part-time Lecturer at USJ, Beirut, Lebanon. Subjects taught : History of video art and performance.

2017

• Part-time Lecturer at LAU, Byblos, Lebanon. Subject taught: Art Appreciation.

• Part-time Lecturer at USEK, Kaslik, Lebanon. Subject taught: History of contemporary art.

2015-2018

• Part-time Lecturer at IESAV-USJ, Beirut, Lebanon. Subject taught : Vidéo alternative.

2016

• Master Thesis Director and Jury member for the DNSEP, School of Fine Art of Besançon, France.

• Part-time Lecturer at USJ, Beirut, Lebanon. Subjects taught : History of video art and performance.

2010-2011

• Part-time Lecturer at the University of Paris-1-Panthéon-Sorbonne, Department of Fine Arts and Aesthetics, Paris, France.

2009-2010

• Lecturer with an ATER status (a fixed-term contract for teaching and research), at the University of Paris-1-Panthéon-Sorbonne, Department of Fine Arts and Aesthetics, Paris, France.

2008-2005

• Lecturer at the University of Paris-1-Panthéon-Sorbonne, Department of Fine Arts and Aesthetics, Paris, France. Subjects taught : First BA year, Personal Creation in relation to current artistic events. Second BA year, Contemporary Drawing.

Seminars / Lectures /Debates

2024

• "BRAIN AND CREATIVITY: BEYOND MYTHS" in conversation with Samah KARAKI, as part of Brain Week, Société des Neurosciences, Montpellier, France.

• BLAST, Esthétiques de l’onde de choc, Dir. Hélène Virion and Isabelle Alzieu, University of Toulouse - Jean-Jaurès, France.

  2023

• Décolonisation des savoirs et réappropriation de mon Histoire à travers l’art, Journée d’histoire de l’art, École supérieure d’art d’Avignon, Avignon, France.

• Filmer, archiver, documenter : l'événement au cœur de l'intime, du social et du politique, l'antiAtlas des épistémicides, Dir. Anna Guillo, MUCEM, Marseille, France.

• A history of Lebanon Through the Artworks of its Artists, during the annual exhibition of Passe Murailles, École supérieure d’art d’Avignon, Avignon, Franc

2022

• Penser le Présent - Rencontre « Beyrouth, Comment penser avec les artistes l’effondrement d’une ville ? », Beaux-Arts of Paris, France.

2021

• Créer encore : la vie artistique au Liban après la catastrophe as part of the seminar Éthiques et mythes de la création, organized by Sylvie Dallet and Elie Yazbek (Online).

2019

• Panel talk at La Colonie in the framework of the exhibition ‘From Flood to Flight’, Paris, France.

• Sirine Fattouh in conversation with Seloua Luste Boulbina and Mayssa Fattouh, Dar El Nimer, Beirut, Lebanon.

2018

• Les enjeux et problématiques de la scène artistique libanaise de l’après-guerre : quelle place pour les œuvres des artistes libanais dans l’histoire contemporaine ?, Lebanese University, Faculty of Fine Arts and Architecture, Furn el Chebbak, Beirut, Lebanon.

2016

• “BEIRUT Signs, Symbols, Memory (Memories) of a Metamorphosis”, The Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK), Lebanon.

2012

• Art is the answer! Villa Empain, Fondation Boghossian, Brussels, Belgium.

• La recherche et ses flux, ENSBA, Paris, France with Marion Guibert, Sirine Fattouh, Sophie Orlando, Christine Ithurbide, Aliocha Imhoff et Kantuta Quiros.

2011

• Middle Eastern Art, the local and global challenges, Beirut Art Fair, Beirut, Lebanon.

2008

• L’art contemporain : formes, références conceptuelles, limites, Hammamet, Tunisia.

2006

• « Femme(s) et Arts Contemporain », la Halle Saint-Pierre, Paris, France.