Born in Beirut, multidisciplinary Artist, Publisher, and Curator Abed Al Kadiri double majored in Arabic Literature and Fine Arts.
His work focuses on the notion of translating violence, investigating repressed personal and collective traumatic experiences, while emphasizing the destruction of cultural heritage, migration, and belonging.
Al Kadiri’s most recent solo exhibitions include: October 17, 2019. Diaries of the Lebanese Revolution, Cromwell Place, London, UK (2021); Today, I Would Like to be a Tree, Galerie Tanit, Beirut (2020).
Al Kadiri has also participated in several group exhibitions regionally and internationally. His work can be found in private and public collections such as The British Museum (London), Institut du Monde Arabe (Paris), The World Bank (Washington), Arab Fund (Kuwait). In 2017 he was awarded the Sursock Museum’s Jury Award at the 32nd Salon d’Automne.
Apart from his artistic practice, he worked as an art critic before becoming the Director of Contemporary Art Platform (CAP) Kuwait from 2012-2015.
In 2017, he cofounded Dongola Limited Editions, a leading publishing house that position artist’s books as an artistic contemporary practice from the Arab world.
Al Kadiri lives between Paris and Beirut.
October 17, 2019, Diaries of the Lebanese Revolution
The series is named after the day that the protests in Lebanon began: October 17, 2019. That night, Al Kadiri witnessed the streets on fire—filled with his angry compatriots—while on the way to Beirut airport.
