Noor Abuarafeh

Noor Abuarafeh (Arabic: نور أبو عرفة, Hebrew: נור אבוארפה; born 1986, Jerusalem) is a Palestinian visual artist who works primarily with video installation, performance, and text-based art.^[1] Her work explores themes of memory, imagination, and the construction and interpretation of history.^[2]

Education

Abuarafeh earned a bachelor's degree in fine arts from Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design.^[3] After graduating, she participated in the Homeworks Space Program, a one-year program at Ashkal Alwan in Lebanon.^[3]

Career

Much of Abuarafeh's work is concerned with memory and archives, particularly the politics of what is included or excluded from archives.^[3][4] Abuarafeh is also interested in Palestinian art as a whole, especially how artwork made in Palestine reached Europe.^[5]

In 2017, she wrote the novel 'The Earth Doesn't Tell Its Secrets' -- His Father Once Said for the Sharjah Biennial 13.^[6]

In 2018, Abuarafeh competed a residency at the Delfina Foundation in London.^[5][7][8] As part of this residency, she published Rumours Began Some Time Ago, which detailed her residential research.^[5]

Abuarafeh's 2018 video piece, "Am I the ageless object at the museum?" was shown at the 2019 Mediterranea Biennale,^[9] the 11th Berlin Biennale (2020),^[10][11] the 59th Venice Biennale (2021),^[2] the Kamel Lazaar Foundation in Tunisia (2023),^[12] and the Fries Museum (2023-2024).^[13]

Abuarafeh had her first solo exhibition in 2019, at the Al Ma'mal Foundation for Contemporary Art in Jerusalem.^[14] In 2021, Abuarafeh had a solo exhibition at the Behna El Wekalah art space in Alexandria, Egypt.^[15] In 2023, Abuarafeh held her first solo exhibition in Germany at Kunstverein München.^[4] Her work was included in the exhibition, Defenders of the Homeland, at the B7L9 Art Station in January 2023.^[12]

Abuarafeh is a member of the Sharjah Art Foundation^[16] and has received a grant from the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture.^[17]