Hala Elkoussy (10-6-1974, Guiza, EG) was born in Cairo in 1974. She studied at the American University before completing an MA in Image and communication at Goldsmiths College, University in London. She lectured on photography in 2002-2003. In 2004, she co-founded the Contemporary Image Collective - CiC, an artist-run initiative dedicated to the visual image, based in Cairo. In 2006, she completed a two year residency at the Rijksakademie Van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. In 2010, Elkoussy was a recipient of the Abraaj Capital Art Prize. Most recently, her feature film treatment entitled "Cactus Flower" was granted development funding by the Hubert Bals Fund, Rotterdam Film Festival.
Elkoussy's work delves into intimate and overlooked sides of communal living to highlight the underlying dynamics at play within the complex urban structure that is Cairo.

Hala ELKOUSSY (1974, Egypt) graduated from Goldsmiths College in London in 2001. In 2004, she co-founded the Contemporary Image Collective (CiC), an artist-run initiative dedicated to the visual image, based in Cairo. In 2006, she completed a two-year residency at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam and in 2010, she won the Abraaj Capital Art Prize. In 2013, Elkoussy published her first book, a photographic journal about urban life after the Egyptian Revolution. Cactus Flower (2017) is her first feature film. Elkoussy lives and works in Cairo and Amsterdam.




Education
* Goldsmith College, University of London, London, GB, 2001-2002 (Image and Communication)
* American University of Cairo, Cairo, EG, 1992-1996 (Business Administration)

Residencies
* Bijlmair, residency in Amsterdam South East, run by Centrum Beeldende Kunsten Zuidoost & Stedelijk Museum Bureau, Amsterdam, 2008
* Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten/Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, 2005-2006
* artists in residence, Aarau, CH, supported by Pro-Helvetia, 2003

Fellowships/stipends
* 2006 Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs/DCO/IC
* 2005 Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs/DCO/IC

Filmography
On Rooftops and Other Points of View (2005, instal),
* From Rome to Rome (2006, short), White Bra (2006, short),
* We're by the Sea Now (2006, short), Mount of Forgetfulness (2010, short),
* Al bahth an madina - fi awraaq Sein/In Search of a City (in the papers of Sein) (2012, short),
* Zahret al sabar/Cactus Flower (2017, 1st feature)

Awards
* 2010 Abraaj Capital Prize, Dubai, UAE
* 2010 Hubert Bals Fund Project Development Fund, Rotterdam Film Festival, NL

Solo exhibitions
* 2010 Townhouse Gallery for Contemporary Art, Cairo, EG,'First Story: the Mount of Forgetfulness'
* 2009 Goteborg Konsthall, Goteborg, Sweden
* 2006 Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NL,'Peripheral (and Other Stories)'
* 2005 Townhouse Gallery for Contemporary Art, Cairo, EG,'Peripheral'
* 2003 Sakakini Art Centre, Ramallah, PA,'Magda & Nevine: Two women from Egypt'

READ MORE on
http://www.halaelkoussy.com/bio