Lamia Abukhadra
Challenging colonial narratives artistically
Date of Birth:
1996
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Place of Birth:
Why Featured?
Abukhadra's art confronts the erasure of Palestinian history and emphasizes cultural resistance through creative expression.
Brief bio
Lamia Abukhadra is a Palestinian-American artist whose interdisciplinary work examines and deconstructs colonial narratives, particularly focusing on the ongoing ethnic cleansing and occupation of Palestine. Her practice spans various media, including printmaking, installations, and archival art, which often references her family’s displacement during the Nakba. Her works aim to reclaim and preserve Palestinian identity, challenging settler-colonial perceptions. Based in Minneapolis and Beirut, she uses her platform to amplify Palestinian resistance through art.
Major Milestones
Contributions
Graduated from the University of Minnesota with honors: Focused on interdisciplinary studio art, where she began exploring her Palestinian identity and its intersection with politics.
Founded a 10-foot border wall installation at Soap Factory: In response to Trump’s Muslim ban, she co-created a symbolic border wall, which was later demolished as an act of resistance.
Became a Jerome Emerging Printmaking Resident: In 2018–2019, she participated in the prestigious residency at the Highpoint Center for Printmaking, Minneapolis.
Art and Communications Director at Mizna: A nonprofit organization promoting Arab-American culture, where she curates and fosters dialogue on SWANA art and identity.
Resident Fellow at Ashkal Alwan, Beirut: Continued her work in interdisciplinary research and art while focusing on Palestine’s diasporic spaces and colonial narratives.
Challenged colonial narratives: Abukhadra’s work dismantles harmful colonialist depictions of Palestinians and reasserts Palestinian identity in the context of the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Highlighted the erasure of Palestinian spaces: Through installations and prints, her works often emphasize the destruction and loss of Palestinian homes and land during and after the Nakba.
Amplified Palestinian voices in art: Her leadership role at Mizna enables her to support other Palestinian and SWANA artists in presenting politically charged work that resists occupation...See More
Reclaimed Palestinian history through archival art: She focuses on recreating and preserving her family’s Palestinian artifacts, keeping alive the cultural memory of pre-1948 Palestine.
Advocated for the role of art in resistance: Her politically-driven pieces encourage the use of art as a tool for Palestinian resistance, particularly by young artists in the diaspora.
Date of Last Update:
November 10, 2024
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