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Home › News & Events › News › Sama Alshaibi Awarded 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship

Sama Alshaibi Awarded 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship

April 27, 2021

The Photography, Video and Imaging Professor will use the award for a project highlighting the experiences of women and girls in war-torn Iraq.

Sama Alshaibi’s “The Cessation” featuring neon, aluminum, acrylic, palm fronds, water, copper, terracotta, and sound was commissioned by Artpace San Antonio in 2019.
Seale Photography Studios

University of Arizona School of Art professor Sama Alshaibi is among 184 artists, writers, scholars and scientists to receive a 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship.

Alshaibi, a photographic and video artist, is co-chair of the School of Art’s nationally ranked Photography, Video and Imaging program.

“I am honored to receive the Guggenheim Fellowship in Photography. I am also deeply grateful to my colleagues, students and the community at the University of Arizona for their creative and intellectual engagement over the years,” Alshaibi said. “Our collaborations and conversations have greatly benefited my research and artwork.”

Sama Alshaibi
Sama Alshaibi
Zakiriya Gladney

 

Since 1925, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation has granted nearly $400 million in fellowships to over 18,000 individuals, many of whom went on to be named Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, poets laureate and recipients of other national and international honors.

This year’s recipients were chosen through a peer-review process of nearly 3,000 applicants.

“I am thrilled to see Sama Alshaibi on the distinguished list of Guggenheim Fellows for 2021,” said Andy Schulz, dean of the College of Fine Arts. “Not only is this award a significant recognition of her standing as a leading figure in contemporary art, it also provides her with critical support as she continues to push the boundaries of her field. As we continue to elevate the arts at the University of Arizona, the groundbreaking work of fine arts faculty such as Sama provides important evidence that creative practice is a critical part of the university’s reputation as a leading research university.”

“Recognition as a Guggenheim fellow is one of the most prestigious and highly visible honors in the arts,” said Colin Blakely, director of the School of Art. “This achievement is the mark of an artist who has distinguished their work and its relevance in profound ways. I am delighted to see this well-earned honor bestowed upon Sama.”

‘To Speak of Silence’

As a woman, a native of Iraq and a naturalized U.S. citizen, Alshaibi uses her work not only to culturally translate between two vastly different countries but to communicate complex and emotionally fraught topics.

Her Guggenheim Fellowship project, “To Speak of Silence,” will use images, video and text to shed light on the ways in which Iraqi women are affected in wartime.

Iraq has experienced political turmoil and upheaval for decades. Much of what the world sees of those conflicts is imagery of gunfights and bombings, but Alshaibi focuses on the devastation beyond the shooting and explosions.

“The devaluation of Iraqi women’s lives exists in the judicial sense, in terms of the new 2005 Iraqi constitution, and by the conditions of sexualized political violence accelerated by the rise and rule of ISIL,” Alshaibi said.

With a country constantly fighting with foreign and domestic adversaries, Alshaibi says bureaucratic structures like the judiciary system are not able to meet the needs of those who are the least represented in governing bodies and the most in need of its services. Consequently, she says women are routinely harassed, kidnapped, or brutalized with no recourse or accountability.

“My practice is a union of these immediate concerns: a commitment to share an Arab American, feminist perspective through a bodily site of struggle and identification,” Alshaibi said.

Alshaibi was profiled as part of the University of Arizona’s “Wonder” campaign. See her feature on YouTube.

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University of Arizona School of Art
1 day ago
University of Arizona School of Art

Our final VASE lecture of the spring will feature artist Walid Raad on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Center for Creative Photography. Details: vase.art.arizona.edu/walid-raad/

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Our final VASE lecture of the spring will feature artist Walid Raad on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Center for Creative Photography. Details: https://vase.art.arizona.edu/walid-raad/ 

Arizona Arts The University of Arizona
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University of Arizona School of Art
2 days ago
University of Arizona School of Art

Regents Professor Sama Alshaibi presented to a packed house Saturday in Denver as the closing speaker for the Society for Photographic Education (SPE) Conference. The day before, speakers Clare Benson (MFA ’13), Tomiko Jones (MFA ’08) and Kaitlyn Jo Smith (MFA '20) and more alums joined Sama and Prof. Martina Shenal, grad student Nathan Cordova and others at Henry's Tavern for a reunion get-together! tinyurl.com/4p6bywwe

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Regents Professor Sama Alshaibi presented to a packed house Saturday in Denver as the closing speaker for the Society for Photographic Education (SPE) Conference. The day before, speakers Clare Benson (MFA ’13), Tomiko Jones (MFA ’08) and Kaitlyn Jo Smith (MFA 20) and more alums joined Sama and Prof. Martina Shenal, grad student Nathan Cordova and others at Henrys Tavern for a reunion get-together! https://tinyurl.com/4p6bywwe

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University of Arizona School of Art
4 days ago
University of Arizona School of Art

Ph.D. student Sedona Heidinger was among six presenters at today's "Collective" Art History Symposium at the University of Arizona Museum of Art. Other speakers were Barbie Kim, Bentley Brown, Shen Qu, Gabriel Quick and Dr. Gregory Sholette (keynote). Director Colin Blakely opened the event, which also included a Collective exhibition at the Palo Verde Gallery (Grad Studios). Go to tinyurl.com/2p9eeshm for more details. Congrats to the School of Art's Graduate Council and Art History Graduate Student Association for organizing the symposium and exhibition! Arizona Arts The University of Arizona ... See MoreSee Less

Ph.D. student Sedona Heidinger was among six presenters at todays Collective Art History Symposium at the University of Arizona Museum of Art. Other speakers were Barbie Kim, Bentley Brown, Shen Qu, Gabriel Quick and Dr. Gregory Sholette (keynote). Director Colin Blakely opened the event, which also included a Collective exhibition at the Palo Verde Gallery (Grad Studios). Go to https://tinyurl.com/2p9eeshm for more details. Congrats to the School of Arts Graduate Council and Art History Graduate Student Association for organizing the symposium and exhibition! Arizona Arts The University of ArizonaImage attachmentImage attachment
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University of Arizona School of Art
4 days ago
University of Arizona School of Art

Hooray to all our undergrads who presented their work at yesterday's BFA and UAUA exhibition reception at the Gross and Rombach galleries. And special thanks to Gallery Director lydia see! UAUA runs until March 24, and BFA ends April 3, so there's still time to see the shows! Arizona Arts The University of Arizona University of Arizona Museum of Art ... See MoreSee Less

Hooray to all our undergrads who presented their work at yesterdays BFA and UAUA exhibition reception at the Gross and Rombach galleries. And special thanks to Gallery Director lydia see! UAUA runs until March 24, and BFA ends April 3, so theres still time to see the shows! Arizona Arts The University of Arizona University of Arizona Museum of ArtImage attachmentImage attachment+Image attachment
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University of Arizona School of Art
5 days ago
University of Arizona School of Art

Art History Prof. Sarah Moore is a board member of the Institute for the Study of International Expositions (ISIE), which is holding its second annual online symposium March 23-24.

Moore will chair one of the sessions at the event, which features academic papers and top designers involved in exposition design. ISIE is the brainchild of UA Architectural History Prof. Lisa Schrenk.

Register by March 22 at shorturl.at/orwHV. Go to www.isie-global.org/ for the panel schedule and more info.

Arizona Arts The University of Arizona UA College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture ISIE_Global
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Art History Prof. Sarah Moore is a board member of the Institute for the Study of International Expositions (ISIE), which is holding its second annual online symposium March 23-24. 

Moore will chair one of the sessions at the event, which features academic papers and top designers involved in exposition design. ISIE is the brainchild of UA Architectural History Prof. Lisa Schrenk.

Register by March 22 at shorturl.at/orwHV. Go to https://www.isie-global.org/ for the panel schedule and more info. 

Arizona Arts The University of Arizona UA College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture ISIE_Global
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University of Arizona School of Art
5 days ago
University of Arizona School of Art

Read our March newsletter! ... See MoreSee Less

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SOA newsletter: Prestigious fellowships, Walton's chair and more!

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Newsletter March 2023 March 2023 Saracino receives prestigious fellowship Art History prof to work on 1st book manuscript at Huntington Library Jennifer Saracino spoke at Chicago's Newberry Library in
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