Hajra Waheed is a Montréal-based artist. Her multimedia practice includes works on paper, collage, sound, video, sculpture and installation. Waheed uses news accounts, extensive research and personal histories to critically examine multiple issues including: covert power, mass surveillance, cultural distortion and the traumas of displacement caused by

colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colony, colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose the ...

and

mass migration Mass migration refers to the migration of large groups of people from one geographical area to another. Mass migration is distinguished from individual or small-scale migration; and also from seasonal migration, which may occur on a regular basis ...

. Waheed was born in 1980 in Canada. She has complex ties and relationships to North America, the Middle East and South Asia. She grew up within the gated compound of Saudi ARAMCO in

Dhahran Dhahran ( ar, الظهران, ''Al-Dhahran'') is a city located in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. With a total population of 240,742 as of 2021, it is a major administrative center for the Saudi oil industry. Together with the nearby citi ...

. She studied at the Art Institute of Chicago where she received her BFA in advanced painting and art history, in 2002. She moved to Montréal in 2005 and completed her MA at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

in 2007. At 34, Waheed received the Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award for Outstanding Achievement as a Canadian Mid-Career Visual Artist. She was shortlisted for the

Sobey Art Award The Sobey Art Award is Canada's largest prize for young Canadian artists. It is named after Canadian businessperson and art collector Frank H. Sobey, who established The Sobey Art Foundation. It is an annual prize given to an artist 40 and under wh ...

in 2016. Waheed's works are in the collections of the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

, the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, the Devi Art Foundation, Samdani Art Foundation, the

Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal The Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (MACM) is a contemporary art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the Place des festivals in the Quartier des spectacles and is part of the Place des Arts complex. Founded in 1964, it is ...

and the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the ...

Exhibitions

* ''(In) The First Circle'', Antoni Tàpies Foundation, Barcelona (2012) * ''Lines of Control,''

Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art ("The Johnson Museum") is an art museum located on the northwest corner of the Arts Quad on the main campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Its collection includes two windows from Frank Lloyd W ...

, Ithaca, (2012) * ''Field Notes and Other Backstories'',

Art Gallery of Windsor Art Windsor-Essex (AWE) (formerly known as the Art Gallery of Windsor) is a not-for-profit art institute in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Established in 1943, the gallery has a mandate as a public art space to show significant works of art by local ...

, Windsor, (2013) * ''Collages: Gesture and Fragments'',

, Montréal, (2014) * ''Lines of Control,'' The Nasher Museum of Art, Duke University, (2014) * ''La Biennale de Montréal'', Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, Montréal, (2014) * ''Asylum in the Sea'', Fonderie Darling, Montréal, 2015 * ''Still Against the Sky'', KW Institute for Contemporary Art, London, (2015) * ''The Missing One'',

Dhaka Art Summit Dhaka Art Summit is an art summit held in Dhaka, Bangladesh and is organised by Samdani Art Foundation, a non- profit art infrastructure development organisation founded by Nadia Samdani. and Rajeeb Samdani in 2011. About The summit displays ...

, Dhaka, (2016) * ''Sobey Art Award Exhibition'',

, Ottawa, (2016) * ''The Eighth Climate (What Does Art Do?)'', 11th Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju, (2016) * ''Sea Change - Chapter 1, Character 1: In the Rough'', Mosaic Rooms, London (2016) * ''The Cyphers'', BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, (2016) * ''Farewell Photography'', ''Biennale für aktuelle Fotografie,'' Kunstverein Ludwigshafen, Ludwigshafen, (2017) * ''Turbulent Landings: NGC Canadian Biennial'',

Art Gallery of Alberta The Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA) is an art museum in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The museum occupies a building at Churchill Square in downtown Edmonton. The museum building was originally designed by Donald G. Bittorf, and B. James Wensley, alth ...

, Edmonton, (2017) * ''Viva Arte Viva'',

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

, Venice, (2017) * ''The Video Installation Project'', Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, Montréal, (2017) * ''Hold Everything Dear'', The Power Plant, Toronto, (2019)
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Waheed, Hajra 1980 births Living people School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni McGill University alumni 21st-century Canadian artists Multimedia artists Women multimedia artists