Nada Elkalaawy (b. Alexandria,1995) is an Egyptian-born London-based artist. Her practice is informed by her personal history dealing with loss, traces of memory and fiction. She predominantly works in painting, but often incorporates drawing, animation, and tapestry in conversation with the painterly medium. She received her MFA in Painting from the Slade School of Fine Art (2018) and her BA in Fine Art from Kingston University (2016). Her solo shows include “Twofold” at Galerie DuflonRacz, Bern and “Watching Grass Grow” (online) with Gypsum gallery, Cairo (2021). Her work has been shown in several group exhibitions including Southwark Park Galleries, London; Kunsthalle am Hamburger Platz, Berlin; KINO DER KUNST, Munich; Shubbak Festival, London (2020); MASS Alexandria, Alexandria; Sharjah Art Gallery, Cairo; Medrar, Cairo (2019); Gypsum, Cairo; Rich Mix, London (2018); Nahim Isaias Museum, Guayaquil; The Refugees Museum, Thessaloniki; The Crypt Gallery, London (2017) and The Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria (2016). She took part in the MASS Alexandria Studio Programme, Alexandria (2018) and will be participating in residencies at L’appartement 22, Rabat and Montresso Art Foundation, Marrakech (2022). She is currently an artist-in-residence at PROGR, Bern with Pro Helvetia. Elkalaawy has been shortlisted for the Dentons Art Prize and the Sarabande Emerging Art fund. She is one of five founding members of the artist group “K-oh-llective”, recipient of Mophradat’s Self-Organizations grant (2020), which aims to facilitate opportunities and collective conversations around art practices in Egypt and the Arab world.
