ARTSPACE Dubai is pleased to be showcasing a new exhibition entitled ‘National Clothesline’, a solo show of works by the Palestinian artist Shadi Alzaqzouq.  

Born in Benghazi in 1981, Shadi Alzaqzouq has had an unusual route, deprived from a passport and a homeland. He grew up among the Palestinian community in Libya and was later expelled along with his family and other Palestinian refugees right after the Oslo Accords were signed. The young man was fifteen when he and his family had to flee the desert where he grew up and returned to Gaza. Now based in France, the environment in which Shadi had spent his childhood and teenage years would leave major traces on his work to come.

Shadi’s work relates to the energy of the Arab youth and from the contemporary artistic profusion worldwide. His references are many, his interests most diverse, his researches inexhaustible and his latest works, framed with tires express his deep connection to urban popular movements. Elements that are also incorporated in his work relates to his family status as a young father, the living conditions of a stateless people, and the international creations spanning from the Occident to Asia, as the promise of encounters goes beyond confining identities.