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Jumana Emil Abboud

Palestinian-Canadian artist Jumana Emil Abboud (b. 1971) is currently based between Jerusalem and London where she is completing her PhD at the Slade School of Fine Art. Her practice draws on folklore, waterlore, mythmaking and storytelling which harness the heritage of interconnectedness. Working in spoken-word performance, video, walking, journaling, drawing, and collaborative Water Divining workshops, Abboud’s practice addresses ways in which stories can survive past dispossession. 

Credit: B&W portrait of Jumana Emil Abboud, taken at Aomori Contemporary Art Centre, 2024. Photography - Ai Iwane

Her work has been presented at Aomori Contemporary Art Centre, Cample Line, Tavros Athens, Documenta, Jameel Arts Centre, Seoul Museum of Art – SeMA, Casco Art Institute: Working for the Commons, the Khaled Shoman Foundation Darat al Funun, at Biennales in Lyon, Sharjah, Venice, Istanbul, and Sydney, at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art and Bildmuseum among others. 

Please click images to enlarge

A drawing of two people holding hands, with an Arabic letter positioned beneath them.
As part of a spoken word collaborative performance, a woman stands on steps holding embroidered fabric and looking towards another person facing away from the camera. Around them, others sit on various steps, watching the two people standing.
A mixed-media artwork on paper using gouache, ink, watercolour, pencil, and pastel. The predominant colour is turquoise, and three faint figures are visible.
A blue vegetable ink and pastel artwork on paper, depicting two figures holding hands.
An exhibition view featuring items on the floor, framed and unframed artwork on the walls and sculptures.