Balqis Al Rashed

Balqis Al Rashed is UMOCA’s first international Artist-in-Residence. Balqis Al Rashed was born in Riyadh, Saudi and raised in Beirut for sixteen years. She attended the American University of Beirut from where she attained her Bachelors of Fine Arts in Graphic Design. Her time there was seminal for the deconstruction of her sense of identity. It was during this time that she found and cultivated her voice and artistic expression as one that expresses her multiculturalism as well as her individuality. This particular academic background has created and influenced her process and aesthetic. She moved back to Saudi in 2009 where Al Rashed has worked in several private companies. She also taught and lectured Design in local universities. In 2010, she co-founded Qabila Apparel, a homegrown Khaleeji clothing line. She participated in March Project Residency 2015 at Sharjah Art Foundation where she exhibited her first big scale installation “Once, we fell from the sky and landed in Babel”. AlRashed has been featured in various media platforms such as Mashable, Instagram’s official profile and blog, and others. Her current work focuses on the creation of meanings, practices, and dichotomies in respect to the collective, identity, and the self.