Dina Danish was born in Paris in 1981. Dina is an Egyptian artist and educator.
Her work is inspired by overlooked historical moments, by language and structure, incorporating humour and misunderstanding. Currently, Dina is working on translating Dadaist multi-lingual and visual poems into Arabic. Dina holds a BA from the American University in Cairo, MFA from CCA in San Francisco, and has taken part in artist residencies including the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, Spinola Banna in Italy, PiST/// in Istanbul and A.i.R. Dubai; she was most recently an Affiliated Fellow at The American Academy in Rome. Her work has been internationally shown most notably at Museo d'Arte Moderna di Bologna, IT; Stedelijk Museum Schiedam; Museum Boijmans, Rotterdam; Kunsthall Oslo; SFMOMA in San Francisco; Beirut and Nile Sunset Annex in Cairo; De Nederlandsche Bank and de Appel Arts Centre in Amsterdam. She performed at Pool Projects in Zurich; with de Appel at the Stedelijk Museum, at The Amsterdam Kunstverein, at the Projects Arts Centre in Dublin, and at the South London Gallery, UK. She has been nominated for the Dutch Volkskrant Award, the Prix de Rome in the Netherlands; And Abraaj Art Prize in UAE; she is the recipient of the Illy Present Future Award at Artissima 18, Celeste Award and the Barclay Simpson Award in San Francisco.
EDUCATION / LONG RESIDENCIES
2009-2010
Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten/ Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (Netherlands)
2006-2008
Master of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing, California College of the Arts, San Francisco (USA)
2000-2005
Bachelor of Arts in Art, The American University in Cairo, EG major: Visual Arts (Magna Cum Laude), Cairo (Egypt)
2004
BA course in Art History, University of Cambridge, International Art History Summer School, Cambridge (United Kingdom)
SOLO / DUO EXHIBITIONS
2024
Art Basel Miami with Gypsum Gallery, Miami (USA)
Today in History, Gypsum Gallery, Cairo (Egypt)
2023
Forum For World Peace and Other stories, Gallery Stigter van Doesburg, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
2022
Things and Needs (Hagaat w' Mehtagaat), Artopia Gallery, Milan (Italy)
2020
Victor Hugo was Here, (with Jean-Baptiste Maitre), Artopia Gallery, Milan (Italy)
2019
Whatever They Do May It All Turn Out Wrong, (with Jean-Baptiste Maitre), Museo d’arte Moderna di Bologna (MAMbo)/ Villa Delle Rose, Bologna (Italy)
2018
Sports Memorabilia, Signed & Everything, Stigter van Doesburg, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
2017
The Admirer and the Admired (with Jean-Baptiste Maitre), PuntWG, Cologne (Germany)
2016
The Poet Who Wanted to be Burried Underneath a Pinball Machine, Stigter van Doesburg, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
7 Easy Blank Wall Solutions, Europe by People, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
The Admirer and the Admired (with Jean-Baptiste Maitre), Tyson, Cologne (Germany)
2015
Dictated But Not Read, Supplement Gallery, London (United Kingdom)
A Place in The Sun, Nile Sunset Annex, Cairo (Egypt)
To Be A Pinball, SpazioA, Pistoia (Italy)
2013
Double Bubble Gum, Doubles Bubble, Barbara Seiler Gallery, Zurich (Switzerland)
Four Friends Fought Furiously For The Phone, De Nederlandsche Bank, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
2012
Re-Play: Back in 10 Minutes, SpazioA, Pistoia (Italy)
2011
A Matter of Time, Barbara Seiler Gallery, Zurich (Switzerland)
Dina Danish, Shmina Shmanish, Jeanine Hofland Contemporary Art, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
2007
Howwa We Ana, However We Wanna, PLAySPACE Gallery, San Francisco (USA)
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS / PERFORMANCES
2025
RICOMPOSIZIONI, (with Andreco, Claire Chalet, Dina Danish, Angelo Filomeno, Carlo Guaita, Alexander Gutke, Jean-Baptiste Maitre, Elena Mazzi, Marzena Nowak, Giulia Parlato, Jasmine Pignatelli, Giuditta Vendrame) Artopia Gallery, Milan (Italy)
2024
Positions, (with Adriano Amaral, Dina Danish, Jacqueline de Jong, Meiro Koizumi, Cristina Lucas, Neo Matloga, Lisa Oppenheim, Han Schuil, Emma Talbot, Jennifer Tee), ABN AMRO Kunstruimte, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
By The Way, (with Soufiane Ababri, Soumeya Ait Ahmed and Nadir Bouhmouch (Tizintizwa), Tewa Barnosa, the Book Block Brigade, Dina Danish, Deniz Eroglu, Willum Geerts, Qiaochu Guo & Jing He, Karin Itturalde, Mohammed Laouli, Zhixin Angus Liao, Mladen Stilinovic, Lily van der Stokker.), Moezeum, Rotterdam (Netherlands)
Or the Continuous Drawing, curated by Adriano Pedrosa, MAC/ CCB Museum of Contemporary Art in Lisbon, Lisbon (Portugal)
AHOI AHOI DES ADMIRALES, (with Martina-Sofie Wildberger, Gregory Tara Hari, Latefa Wiersch, Shana Lutker, Sophie Jung, Guillaume Pilet, Dina Danish), Zurich Art Weekend, Zurich (Switzerland)
Female Fatigue, (with Melissa Gordon, Dina Danish, Peggy Franck, Erika Peucelle), Stigter van Doesburg (Amsterdam Art Week), Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Die Eigene Sammlung, Kunstmuseum Bochum, Bochum (Germany)
Refresh #2 War and Conflict, Amsterdam Museum, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
2023
Nucré: The Court Ballet, (with Dina Danish, Angelo Filomeno, Elena Mazzi, Angelica Mesiti, Marzena Nowak, Giulia Parlato, Luca Trevisani), curated by Roberto Lacarbonara, Ceglie Messapica (Italy)
2021
Politics at Play, Play at Politics, (with Marcel van den Berg, Dina Danish, Bardhi Haliti, Hiwa K, Amina Menia, Claudia Rankine & John Lucas, Martine Rose, Yara Said), curated by Zippora Elders, Kunstfort bij Vijfhuizen, Vijfhuizen (Netherlands)
Hot/Cold – Dry/Wet: On Art and Latitude, with (Alice Anderson, Philippe Bemberg, Marcelo Brodsky, Stefano Cagol, Dina Danish, Willie Doherty, Taiye Idahor, Verena Immenhauser, Remy Jungerman, Mathias Løvgreen, Esther Mathis, Daniela Schönbächler, Wang Zhibo, Zimoun), curated by Valentina Locatelli, ART+CHATEAU SCHLOSS OBERDIESSBACH, Oberdiessbach (Switzerland)
Altri echi, (with Antonio Catelani, Filippo Cristini, Dina Danish, Martinelli Venezia, Michele Spanghero and Marianne Vierø), Artopia Gallery, Milan (Italy)
2020
Emptiness and Infinite Space V, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
The Hazenstraat Biennale, Stigter van Doesburg, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
The Hazenstraat Biennale, Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Online Artichoke Edition, Stigter van Doesburg, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Cinque Mostre, The American Academy in Rome, Rome (Italy)
No Title, Stigter van Doesburg, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
2019
Found in Translation, (performance), Perdu, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
No habrá nunca una puerta. Estás adentro, Sala de Arte Fundación Banco Santander, Madrid (Spain)
2018
Mouthfeel, Western Front, Vancouver (Canada)
10 Years of Love, SpazioA, Pistoia (Italy)
Der erweiterte Blick - The Extended View, Kunstverein Langenhagen, (Germany)
Editions & Multiples, Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
2017
The Oslo Museum for Contemporary Art, Kunsthall Oslo, Oslo (Norway)
They took his fries he took their lives, Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Violenti confini, Pinacoteca Comunale Città di Castello, Citta di Castello (Italy)
Where Do We Go From Here?, Nieuw Amsterdams Peil, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
2016
A Second Exhibition (By Other Masters, Around The Same Subject, New Date), Hotel Maria Kapel, Hoorn (Netherlands)
Failed to Sync, PuntWG, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
The People’s Cinema, Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg (Austria)
Syntax and Society, curated by Nav Hap, The Abraaj Group Art Prize, Dubai (United Arab Emirates)
El Que Camina Al Lado, Travesia Curato, Madrid (Spain)
Performance Practices in the Gallery Context, Ellen de Bruijne Projects, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Where The Sun Hits The Water, Galerie Scharmann & Laskowski, Cologne (Germany)
2015
XII Baltic Triennial, A Million Lines, Bunkier Sztuki Gallery of Contemporary Art, Kraków (Poland)
The Joycean Society, curated by Noor Mertens, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (Netherlands)
A Blind Man Sitting in His Garden, Pool Projects (Luma Foundation), Zurich (Switzerland)
What Are You Doing Object, Gypsum Gallery, Cairo (Egypt)
Too early too late: Middle East and Minority, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna (Italy)
Volkskrant Beeldende Kunstprijs 2015, curated by Wilma Suto, Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, Schiedam (Netherlands)
2014
My Vocabulary Did This To Me, (performance), South London Gallery, London (United Kingdom)
Legion of Honor, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco Artists and Editions, San Francisco (USA)
Dublin The Centre for Dying on Stage #1, curated by Kate Strain, Project Arts Centre, Dublin (Ireland)
Father, Can’t You See I’m Burning?, (performance), de Appel Curatorial Programme, Stedleijk Museum, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Achenbach Foundation, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Artists and Editions, San Francisco (USA)
Ways of Working According to an Office Desk, curated by Niekolaas Johannes Lekkerkerk, Upominki, Rotterdam (Netherlands)
All About These… Ladies and Gentlemen, Co-Pilot Istanbul, in collaboration with Gallery On The Move, Instanbul (Turkey)
2013
Parallel Projects of Marrakech Biennale, With the Sound of Your Voice, curated by Niekolaas Johannes Lekkerkerk, Marrakech (Morrocco)
Biennale Yogyakarta, Not A Dead End, curated by Agung Hujatnikajennong and Sarah Rifky, Yogyakarta (Indonesia)
Beirut Season Four: Writing with the other hand is imagining, Beirut, Cairo (Egypt)
Some Misunderstandings, curated by CG Associate Sevie Tsampalla, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester (United Kingdom)
Bourgeois Leftovers, De Appel Arts Center, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
To Scrap a proportion, Wilfried Lentz Gallery, Rotterdam (Netherlands)
Prospects & Concepts, curated by Wim Waelput, LantarenVenster, Rotterdam (Netherlands)
2012
We’re All Here Because We’re Not All There, curated by Dane Jensen and David Kasprzak, Tecoh Bruce Gallery, San Francisco (USA)
We Are Rolling, GallerieJ, Geneve (Switzerland)
Not in A Million Years, Jeanine Hofland Contemporary Art, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
A Brand New Baby Carriage Standing There On The Porch, Barbara Seiler Galerie, Zurich (Switzerland)
On Demand 2, Tegenboschvanvreden, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
2011
il gatto è sul tavolo’ The Cat is On The Table, curated by Chris Fitzpatrick, Spazio A, Pistoia (Italy)
Run, Comrade, The Old World is Behind You, curated by Will Bradley, Kunsthall Oslo (Norway)
Two Versions of the Imaginary, curated by Maria Barnas, Annet Gelink Gallery, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Dina Danish, 3 videos, videohOle project space, San Francisco (USA)
2010
Shadow Shop a project by Stephanie Syjuko, SFMOMA, San Francisco (USA)
Time After Time, curated by Taraneh Hemami and Valerie Imus, Southern Exposure, San Francisco (USA)
I Must Say That At First It Was Difficult Work, curated by Will Bradley, Kunsthall Oslo (Norway)
2009
Queen’s Nails Annex, Exercises in Seeing, curated by Post Brothers, San Francisco (USA)
Fantasy for Allan Kaprow, curated by Mai AbulDahab and Philippe Pirotte, CIC, Cairo (Egypt)
Reconciling America: Miraculous Encounters with the Mundane, San Francisco Art Commission Gallery, San Francisco (USA)
SELECTED FILM / VIDEO SCREENINGS
2016
W8, Dina Danish, hosted by Ellen de Bruijne Projects, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
2015
A Tale of a Tub, The Migrant Moving Images, Rotterdam (Netherlands)
2014
Kunstfilmtage, The Dispute and the Inquiry That Followed, Dusseldorf (Germany)
2011
Bureau Des Videos program, Costes Centre Pompidou, Light Box, curator C. Dirie, Paris (France)
2010
41st Poetry International Festival Singing Reality, curator Maria Barnas, Rotterdam (Netherlands)
AWARDS
2018
Winner with Jean-Baptiste Maitre, Residenza per Artisti Sandra Natali, Bologna (Italy)
2016
Shortlist, Prix K-Way Per4m, Artissima with Barbara Seiler Gallery, Turin (Italy)
2015
Shortlist Artist, Abraaj Group Art Prize, Dubai (United Arab Emirates)
Longlist Nominee, Prix de Rome, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Nominee, Volkskrant Art Award (Netherlands)
2012
Winner, Curator’s Choice Celeste Prize, Rome (Italy)
Finalist, illy Art Rotterdam Prize with Barbara Seiler Gallery (Netherlands)
2013
Longlist Nominee, Prix de Rome, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
2011
Winner, illy Present Future award, Artissima 18 with Jeanine Hofland Contemporary Art, Turin (Italy)
2008
Finalist, Toby Devan Lewis Fellowship, San Francisco (USA)
Winner, Barclay Simpson Award, San Francisco (USA)
2007
Finalist, SECA Art award, SFMOMA, San Francisco (USA)
RESIDENCIES AND WORKSHOPS
2019 | Project Studio Rome (The American Academy in Rome/ KNIR), Mondriaan Fonds, Rome (Italy)
2018 | Rose Residency Programme at MAMbo, Bologna (Italy)
2013 | A.I.R. Dubai, by Delfina Foundation, Tashkeel, Art Dubai, and Dubai Culture (United Arab Emirates)
2011-2012 | PiST///, BKVB, Istanbul (Turkey)
2012 | ResO Fondazione Spinola Banna per l’Arte, Poirino (Italy)
FELLOWSHIPS / STIPENDS
2020 | Mondriaan Fund, Talent Development for Established Artists Grant (Netherlands)
2020 | Mondriaan Fund, International Presentation (Netherlands)
2019 | Mondriaan Fund, work budget Grant (Netherlands)
2018 | Mondriaan Fund, International Presentation (Netherlands)
2016 | Mondriaan Fund, International Presentation (Netherlands)
2015 | Mondriaan Fund, Talent Development for Established Artists Grant (Netherlands)
2013 | Mondriaan Fund, work budget Grant (Netherlands)
2011 | BKVB Startstipendium (Netherlands)
2010 | Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (ICE) (Netherlands)
2009 | Institut Français des Pays-Bas (Netherlands)
2009 | Van den Berch van Heemstede Stichting (Netherlands)
2008 | Headlands Graduate Fellowship, Headlands Center for the Arts, Marin (USA)
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Museum of Modern art in Bologna, Bologna (Italy)
SFMOMA, San Francisco (USA)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York (USA)
Texeira de Fritas Collection, Lisbon (Portugal)
The Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley (USA)
The Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, Fine Arts Museums, San Francisco (USA)
The Henry Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle (USA)
De Nederlandsche Bank (Netherlands)
The Getty Art Museum, Los Angeles (USA)
Nomas Foundation (Italy)
ABN Amro Collection (Netherlands)
SELECTED CATALOGUES AND PUBLICATIONS
2019 | "WHATEVER THEY DO MAY IT ALL TURN OUT WRONG", Artist Book & Exh. Catalogue MAMbo Editions
2018 | "Sportsmemorabila met een twist" (review), Het Parool
2017 | "Alves, Barbara Neves, Relocations: The Idiot as a Figure of Miscommunication", Parse (peer reviewed journal), issue #3
2016 | "Danish, Dina, Syntax and Society", Sternberg Press
2015 | "Working Geographies" (review), Mousse Publishing, Turin (Italy)
2015 | "Danish, Dina, On Chewing Gum", artist book
2014 | "Father, Can’t You See I’m Burning?" (exh. Catalogue), De Appel Arts Center, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
2013 | "With the Sound of Your Voice" (vinyl record), The Office for Curating, Cura, Marrakech Biennale
2013 | "Not A Dead End" (exh. Catalogue), Biennale Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta (Indonesia)
2013 | "Bourgeois Leftovers" (the Reader), De Appel Arts Center, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
2011 | "il gatto e sul tavolo -The Cat is On The Table" (exh. Catalogue), SpazioA, Pistoia (Italy)
2010 | "RijksakademieOPEN" (exh. Catalogue), Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
2010 | "Danish, DinaThe Sis These S" (second edition, artist book), Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
2009 | "RijksakademieOPEN" (exh. Catalogue), Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
2009 | "Fantasy for Allan Kaprow" (exh. Catalogue), Objectif Exhibitions/ Kunsthall Bern, Antwerp (Belgium)
2008 | "Danish, Dina, The Sis These S" (first edition, artist book/ MFA thesis), California College of the Arts, San Francisco (USA)
2008 | "ISR-Institute of Social Research", Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart (Germany)