2011   Artists   Hala Elkoussy

HALA ELKOUSSY

TITLE:  Al-Khawaga and Johnny Stories

Born: 1974, Cairo, Egypt

Lives/Works: Amsterdam and Cairo

87 Sandgate Road, CT20 2AF
Elkoussy has transformed a former corner shop into an archive and reading room, filled with myriad documents, photographs, maps, books, as well as a specially made film, ‘in search of a
city (in the papers of Sein)’, relating to Egypt’s colonial past. ‘Khawaga’ is an Arabic colloquialism for ‘foreigner’ that mixes pejorative connotations of being ‘rich and useless’ with those of envy and respect, while ‘Johnny’ is a generic name that Egyptians used to refer to British soldiers. Film 34 mins.

Interview with Hala Elkoussy
Hala Elkoussy Interview by FT2011 Audio

Recent solo exhibitions:

‘First Story: Mount of Forgetfulness’, The Townhouse Gallery of Contemporary Art, Cairo (2010-2011)

‘Hala Elkoussy’, Göteborgs Konsthall, Sweden (2009)

‘Peripheral and (Other) Stories’, Stedelijk Museum Bureau, Amsterdam (2006)

‘Peripheral’, The Townhouse Gallery of Contemporary Art, Cairo (2005)

Recent group exhibitions:

‘Monumentalism’, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2010-11)

Abraaj Capital Prize 2010, Museum of Art & Design, New York (2010)

9th Sharjah Biennial (2009)

Bamako Biennial (2009)

‘Looking Inside Out’, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo (2009)

9^th Istanbul Biennial (2005)

Awards:

Abraaj Capital Art Prize (2010)