The exhibition presents a series of large-scale mixed-media works which examine ideas relating to personal and collective identity and memory. Inspired by the sacred funerary texts from the Book of the Dead (c. 1550 BCE), this series confronts viewers with ironic renderings of cultural tropes, as Hafez believes that ‘we are at a point in history where there is cultural recycling: visual, conceptual…’ By drawing on symbols and forms culled from ancient Egyptian iconography and international contemporary culture, Hafez creates thought-provoking compositions recognizable to both local and international audiences.

This is Hafez’s first exhibition at Meem Gallery, and the first solo exhibitions he has held in the Gulf region. He has held solo exhibitions in Egypt, where he lives and works, France, Italy, Spain and Cameroon and has work in public international collections including Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah; State Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki; Saatchi Collection, London; MuHKA Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp; Ars Aevi Museum of Contemporary Art, Sarajevo; Horcynus Orca Foundation, Messina; and Mali National Museum, Bamako.

His works have been displayed in Hiroshima Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, 2012; State Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, 2011; Museum of Contemporary Art, Roskilde, Denmark, 2007 & 2011; Instituto Tomie Ohtake, Sao Paolo, 2011; Yuchengco Museum, Manila, 2011; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 2010 & 2012; The New Museum NY, 2010; Casa Arabe, Madrid, 2010; Saatchi Gallery, London, 2009; Queens Museum, NY, 2008; Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, 2008 & 2012; Tate Modern, London, 2007; MuHKA Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp, 2007 & 2011; and Kunstmuseum, Bonn, 2007.

Image: © Khaled Hafez, Meem Gallery