About

Sirine Fattouh (b. 1980) is a feminist visual artist, filmmaker, and researcher whose work bridges personal and collective histories through film, video installations, and sculpture. Rooted in the fragmented memories of conflict in the Middle East, her practice offers a critical lens on identity, exile, and the Arab diaspora. Through intimate narratives, she confronts colonial legacies and challenges patriarchal structures, drawing on oral histories that extend beyond her own story.

Upcoming

- Contre;Courant: Art Explora Festival, October 3–12, 2025, Athens.

- October 9-16: Screening of Behind The Shield at the 5th edition of the Lebanese Film Festival of France, Paris.

  • Sirine Fattouh (b. 1980) is a feminist visual artist, filmmaker, researcher, and dedicated biker whose work bridges personal and collective histories, often through the medium of film, video installations, and sculptural works. Her practice is deeply rooted in exploring fragmented memories of conflict, especially in relation to the Middle East, and offers a critical lens on issues of identity, exile, and the Arab diaspora. Fattouh’s work foregrounds intimate narratives that confront colonial legacies and challenge patriarchal structures, drawing on personal testimonies and oral histories that extend beyond her own.

    Her films function as living archives, designed to serve as resources for future generations of artists and scholars interested in marginalized narratives. By crafting these works, she aims to provide a counter-history that questions established narratives and highlights the complex identities of Arab women. Influenced by Homi Bhabha’s concept of cultural hybridity, her work navigates a 'third space' that redefines identity and the self amidst diasporic experiences.

    Fattouh’s use of distance and subtlety in representation resists spectacle, choosing instead to reveal the invisible consequences of war, exile, and trauma. Her installations invite viewers to consider the intersection of the intimate and the political, creating a dialogue around how societies remember and process collective trauma.

    Holder of a PhD in Fine Arts from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UFR 04), she taught there from 2005 to 2011. She has also taught in various universities and art schools in Lebanon, including LAU, USEK, and USJ, as well as in France. Since 2021, she has been a faculty member at the École supérieure d’Art d’Avignon (ESAA)

    Her work has been showcased at various prestigious venues, including La galerie, centre d’art contemporain of Noisy le Sec(France), Sursock Museum (Beirut, Lebanon), Centre Pompidou (Metz, France), MAXXI Museum (Rome, Italy),  Fondation d'Entreprise Ricard (Paris, France), Akinci Gallery (Amsterdam, Netherlands), Kaaï Studio (Brussels, Belgium), Beirut Art Center (Beirut, Lebanon), Mucem (Marseille, France), ZKM (Karlsruhe, Germany), Edge of Arabia (Brick Lane, London), La Villa Savoye of Le Corbusier (Poissy, France), l'Institut du Monde Arabe (Paris, France) and the Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art (Thessaloniki, Greece).

  • 2024

    • "BRAIN AND CREATIVITY: BEYOND MYTHS" in conversation with Samah KARAKI, as part of Brain Week, Société des Neurosciences, Montpellier, France.

    • BLAST, Esthétiques de l’onde de choc, Dir. Hélène Virion and Isabelle Alzieu, University of Toulouse - Jean-Jaurès, France.

      2023

    • Décolonisation des savoirs et réappropriation de mon Histoire à travers l’art, Journée d’histoire de l’art, École supérieure d’art d’Avignon, Avignon, France.

    • Filmer, archiver, documenter : l'événement au cœur de l'intime, du social et du politique, l'antiAtlas des épistémicides, Dir. Anna Guillo, MUCEM, Marseille, France.

    • A history of Lebanon Through the Artworks of its Artists, during the annual exhibition of Passe Murailles, École supérieure d’art d’Avignon, Avignon, Franc

    2022

    • Penser le Présent - Rencontre « Beyrouth, Comment penser avec les artistes l’effondrement d’une ville ? », Beaux-Arts of Paris, France.

    2021

    • Créer encore : la vie artistique au Liban après la catastrophe as part of the seminar Éthiques et mythes de la création, organized by Sylvie Dallet and Elie Yazbek (Online).

    2019

    2018

    • Les enjeux et problématiques de la scène artistique libanaise de l’après-guerre : quelle place pour les œuvres des artistes libanais dans l’histoire contemporaine ?, Lebanese University, Faculty of Fine Arts and Architecture, Furn el Chebbak, Beirut, Lebanon.

    2016

    2012

    • Art is the answer! Villa Empain, Fondation Boghossian, Brussels, Belgium.

    • La recherche et ses flux, ENSBA, Paris, France with Marion Guibert, Sirine Fattouh, Sophie Orlando, Christine Ithurbide, Aliocha Imhoff et Kantuta Quiros.


    2011


    2008

    2006

    • « Femme(s) et Arts Contemporain », la Halle Saint-Pierre, Paris, France.

  • 2023-2025

    • Full-time Lecturer at ESAA, Avignon, France. Subject taught: Video art, Performance, Installation.

    2022

    • Full-time Lecturer at ESAA, Avignon, France. Subject taught: Video art.

    • Part-time Lecturer at IESAV-USJ, Beirut, Lebanon. Subject taught: Vidéo alternative.

    2021

    • Part-time Lecturer at IESAV-USJ, Beirut, Lebanon. Subject taught: Vidéo alternative.

    • Part-time Lecturer at USJ, Beirut, Lebanon. Subjects taught : History of video art and performance.

    2020

    • President of Jury for the DNSEP, École Nationale Suppérieur de Paris Cergy (ENSAPC), Cergy, France.

    • Part-time Lecturer at LAU, Byblos, Lebanon. Subjects taught: Modern Art.

    • Part-time Lecturer at USEK, Kaslik, Lebanon. Subjects taught: History of contemporary art.

    • Part-time Lecturer at IESAV-USJ, Beirut, Lebanon. Subject taught : Vidéo alternative.

    2019

    • Part-time Lecturer at LAU, Byblos, Lebanon. Subjects taught: History of Art II, Modern Art.

    • Part-time Lecturer at USEK, Kaslik, Lebanon. Subjects taught: History of contemporary art.

    • Part-time Lecturer at IESAV-USJ, Beirut, Lebanon. Subject taught : Vidéo alternative.

    2018

    • Part-time Lecturer at LAU, Byblos, Lebanon. Subjects taught: Art Appreciation, History of Art II, Modern Art.

    • Part-time Lecturer at USEK, Kaslik, Lebanon. Subjects taught: History of contemporary art.

    • Part-time Lecturer at USJ, Beirut, Lebanon. Subjects taught : History of video art and performance.

    2017

    • Part-time Lecturer at LAU, Byblos, Lebanon. Subject taught: Art Appreciation.

    • Part-time Lecturer at USEK, Kaslik, Lebanon. Subject taught: History of contemporary art.

    2015-2018

    • Part-time Lecturer at IESAV-USJ, Beirut, Lebanon. Subject taught : Vidéo alternative.

    2016

    • Master Thesis Director and Jury member for the DNSEP, School of Fine Art of Besançon, France.

    • Part-time Lecturer at USJ, Beirut, Lebanon. Subjects taught : History of video art and performance.

    2010-2011

    • Part-time Lecturer at the University of Paris-1-Panthéon-Sorbonne, Department of Fine Arts and Aesthetics, Paris, France.

    2009-2010

    • Lecturer with an ATER status (a fixed-term contract for teaching and research), at the University of Paris-1-Panthéon-Sorbonne, Department of Fine Arts and Aesthetics, Paris, France.

    2008-2005

    • Lecturer at the University of Paris-1-Panthéon-Sorbonne, Department of Fine Arts and Aesthetics, Paris, France. Subjects taught : First BA year, Personal Creation in relation to current artistic events. Second BA year, Contemporary Drawing.