Hamra Abbas | born in Kuwait, lives and works in Boston and Islamabad
Education
2004 Meisterschueler, Universitaet der Kuenste Berlin
2002 MA Visual Arts, National College of Arts, Lahore
1999 BFA, National College of Arts, Lahore
Solo Exhibitions/Projects
2009 Video Art by Hamra Abbas, Babusch Project Space, Berlin
2008 Adventures of the Woman in Black, Green Cardamom, London
New works by Hamra Abbas, NCA Gallery, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
God Grows on Trees, Schultz Contemporary, Berlin
Hamra Abbas, Zahoor-al-Akhlaq Gallery, NCA, Lahore
2006 Hamra Abbas, Dorothea Konwiarz Stiftung Galerie, Berlin
Lessons on Love, Rohtas 2, Lahore
2005 I can’t really explain what it’s like where I live, but someday I’ll take you there, The Phatory, New York
Men in White, Vermont Studio Center, USA
2002 Art and Ashes, Gallery NCA, Lahore
2001 More Smoke Than Fire, Gallery NCA, Lahore
1999 Embodied Meaning, NCA, Lahore
Group Exhibitions
2009
Aluminium, 4th International Biennial of Contemporary Art, Baku, Azerbaijan
2nd International Incheon Woman Artists’ Biennale, S. Korea (cat.)
Everyday Miracles (Extended), Walter and McBean Galleries, SFAI, CA
Everyday Miracles (Extended), REDCAT, Los Angeles, CA
Hanging Fire, Asia Society Museum, New York (cat.)
Read, Royal Ontario Museum, Canada
Mashq, Green Cardamom, London
Jameel Prize, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
International Artists’ Workshop, PRAXIS: Art in Times of Uncertainty, 2nd Thessaloniki Biennale (cat.)
Anomalies, Rossi & Rossi, London
Starring the Artist, Indus Valley School Gallery, Karachi
9th Sharjah Biennale – Provisions for the Future, UAE (cat.)
2008
Recently Seen and Admired, Galerie Kunstagenten, Berlin
The Audience and the Eavesdropper: New Art From India and Pakistan, Phillips de
Pury & Company, London (cat.)
Drawn From Life, Green Cardamom, London (cat.)
Buffaloes in Combat, Scotiabank Nuit Blanche, Toronto
Farewell to Post-Colonialism, 3rd Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art,
Guangzhou, China (cat.)
Art Hong Kong, Green Cardamom, Hong Kong
Dubai Art Fair, Green Cardamom, Dubai
Crossroads, Elementa Art Gallery, UAE
In-Situ, Shake Before Use, ARTIUM de Alava, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
Dubai Art Fair, Green Cardamom, Booth B52, Dubai
In-Situ, Shake Before Use, ARTIUM de Alava, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
2007
Not Only Possible But Also Necessary-Optimism In The Age Of Global War, 10th International Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul (catalog)
Urban Myths and Modern Fables, UTS Gallery, Sydney (catalog)
Inaugural show, National Art Gallery, Islamabad (catalog)
Contemporary Art from Pakistan, Thomas Erben, NYC
Divination, B 22, Hamburg/Paris
Politics of Fear, Albion gallery, London
2006
Zones of Contact, 15th Biennale of Sydney, Sydney
Beyond the Page, Asia House, London and Manchester Art Gallery
Open day, Vasl International Artists Workshop, Gadani
2005
Zeitsprünge Raumfolgen, ifa Galerie, Berlin, Stuttgart
Full House, Künstlerdorf Schöppingen, Schöppingen
Meisterschueler Prize Winners of UdK, Galerie Michael Schultz, Berlin
Bueno Ensemble, ARC Gallery, Chicago
Mind Wrestlers, Parsons Paris School of Design, Paris
KOVIDEO 1st Durban Video Festival, Mumbai
13 Boxes, Goliath Art Space, Brooklyn, New York
Beyond Borders, Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai
2004
Art from Pakistan, Houses of Parliament, London
Meisterschueler Prize Exhibition, Universitaet der Kuenste (UdK) Berlin, Berlin
Aarpaar 3, Lahore | Karachi | Mumbai
Miniature from Pakistan, Fukuoka Museum of Asian Art, Fukuoka
Open Studios, Triangle Artists’ Workshop, Brooklyn, NY
8th Symposium Junge Kunst, Guetersloh
FreiRäume, A Project by FreiStil e.V., Berlin
Love It or Leave It, 5th Cetinje Biennial, Cetinje
Creative Insecurity, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto
Meisterschueler Exhibition, Universitaet der Kuenste (UdK) Berlin
Along the X-Axis: Digital Art From India and Pakistan, New Delhi
Playing with a Loaded Gun, Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel
2003
Junger Westen 2003, Kunsthalle Rechlinghausen, Rechlinghausen
EyeTwisters, Houston Community College, Northline Gallery, Houston, TX
Peace with India, Neher Kinarey, Lahore
Miniatures Pakistanaises, Maison d’Art Contemporain Chaillioux, Paris | K3 – Project Space, Zurich
Contemporary Miniature from India/Pakistan, Fine Art Resource Gallery, Berlin
Cultural Juxtaposition, Southwest School of Art and Craft, San Antonio, TX
2002
Interrogating Diversity, Betty Rymer Gallery, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL
Digital Visions, Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento, CA
Hamra Abbas and Nosheen Saeed, sCanvas Art Gallery, Karachi
Painting Over the Lines: Five Contemporary Artists from Pakistan, Indo Center, New York City, NY | York Quay Gallery, Toronto
Around Miniatures, Canvas Art Gallery, Karachi
The Takhti Exhibition, Gallery Sadequain, Karachi
Ray of Hope, Gallery NCA, Lahore
Selected Publications
Anita Dawood & Sharmini Pereira (eds.), Hamra Abbas Object Lessons (London: Green Cardamom London, 2009)
Salima Hashmi (ed.), Hanging Fire: Contemporary Art From Pakistan (New York: Asia Society, New York, 2009)
Lauren Cornell, Massimiliano Gioni, Laura Hoptman (eds.), Younger Than Jesus | Artist Directory (London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2009)
Yang Enhee (ed.) So Close Yet So Far Away: 2009 Incheon Women Artists’ Biennale (Incheon: Incheon Women Artists’ Biennale Organizing Commitee, 2009)
’One Artist for 2009’ Art Asia Pacific Annual (New York), 2008
Hoor Al Qasimi, Jack Persekian et al, Provisions: Sharjah Biennial 9, Book 1 (New York and Sharjah: Bidoun and Sharjah Biennial, 2009)
Hammad Nasar, ‚’Pakistan: An Art of Extremes’, Orientations, Vol. 40, No. 1, January/February 2009
Claudia Wahjudid, ’Korperstudien’, Tagesspiegel (Berlin), 3rd February, 2009
Wang Huangsheng, Gao Shiming, Sarat Maharaj , Chang Tsong-zung, Farewell to Post-colonialism: The Third Guangzhou Triennial (Guangzhou: Publishing House of China Academy of Art, 2008)
Quddus Mirza ’Icons of Our Times’, News (Karachi), 31st August, 2008
Aarti Dua, Art Across Borders, Grafiti: The Telegraph Magazine (Calcutta), 22nd June 2008
Enrique Martinez Goikoetxea, ‚’Shake Before Use. Nine Names,’ In Situ Shake Before Use (Vitoria Gasteiz: Artium, Centro Museo Vasco de Arte Contemporáneo, 2008)
Hammad Nasar, Financial Times (London), Monday, 17th March, 2008
Haema Sivanesan, Urban Myths and Modern Fables (Toronto: Doris McCarthy Gallery, University of Toronto & South Asian Visual Arts Centre (SAVAC), 2008)
Ilkay Baliç Ayvaz (ed.), Not Only Possible But Also Necessary – Optimism in the Age of Global War, 10th International Istanbul Biennial (Istanbul: Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, 2007)
Claudia Richter, ’Politik und Kamasutra’, Die Tageszeitung (Berlin), 18th September, 2007
Virginia Whiles, ’Hamra Abbas’ Contemporary Annual, 2006
Anita Dawood & Hammad Nasar (eds) Beyond The Page (London and Manchester: Asia House, Green Cardamom, Manchester Art Gallery and Shisha, 2006)
Charles Merewether (ed) Zones of Contact, 2006 Biennale of Sydney (Sydney: The Biennale of Sydney, 2006)
Hamra Abbas: Objekte und Installation (UdK Berlin: Berlin, 2005)
Kama Sutra heykelinin, newspaper article, Sabah, 10th September, 2007, Istanbul, Turkey
Checkpoint Charley: 4th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art, (Berlin: Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art, 2005)
Zdravka Bajovi, René Block, Birgit Eusterschulte (eds.), Love it or Leave it: 5th Cetinje Biennial (Cetinje and Kassel: National Museum of Montenegro & Kunstalle Fridericianum, 2004)
Virginia Whiles, Contemporary Asian Artists III – Contemporary Miniature Paintings from Pakistan (Fukuoka, Japan: Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, 2004)
Ateeqa Ali, ’Playing with a Loaded Gun’, Playing with a Loaded Gun (Kassel, Germany: Kunsthalle Fridericianum, 2004)
Residencies/Awards/Scholarships
2009
Jury Prize, Sharjah Biennial 9 – Provisions for the Future
Finalist for Jameel prize, V&A Museum, London
2006
Residency, Gasworks, V&A Museum and Green Cardamom, London
2005
Scholarship, Dorothea Konwiarz Stiftung, Berlin
Residence scholarship, Kuenstlerdorf Schoeppingen, Schoeppingen
2004
Meisterschueler Prize, Universitaet der Kuenste (UdK) Berlin
Triangle Artists’ Workshop, Brooklyn, New York
8th Symposium Junge Kunst, Guetersloh
2003
Fellowship Award, artist-in-residence, Vermont Studio Center, USA
DAAD Scholarship, Germany
2000
Shakir Ali Award, National College of Arts, Lahore
1996-99
Merit Award, National College of Arts, Lahore
1998-2002
PEP Scholarship, Lahore