Rana Hamadeh

Rana Hamadeh is a visual, sound, and performance artist from Lebanon, who is now based in Rotterdam/Netherlands. Drawing on curatorial methodologies within her artistic practice, she develops long-term projects that manifest as large-scale sonic architectures, system-designs, performances, audio-visual installations, and pedagogical frameworks. Her work analyzes the epistemologies and technologies of justice, understanding justice through the lenses of measure, spectacle, translation, reproduction and machinic standardization.

In 2010, she initiated her ongoing project Alien Encounters, which has since operated as an incubator for a growing series of works that complicate the notion of »alienness«. Throughout the Alien Encounters’ chapters, the alien operates as both a discursive and archival tool which is used to examine colonial corporate and state-promoted forms of violence and their enabling legal apparatuses.

Since 2016, Hamadeh has been developing what she terms a »machine-centric operatic practice«, testing out models for extended/collective thinking, composition and study. In 2020, she launched The Destiny Project and the Standard Deviation series; her latest long-term undertakings, which deepen her inquiry into algorithmic justice in conjunction with the modern histories of work and strike.

Hamadeh is the recipient of the Dutch Prix de Rome (2017); and has been nominated among others for the AICA Nederlands award (2020) and the Dolf Henkes Prize (2016).

Her solo work has been shown at Kunstverein Arnsberg, Arnsberg/Germany (2023); Haus für Medienkunst (formerly known as Edith-Russ-Haus), Oldenburg/Germany (2022); The Secession, Vienna/Austria (2021); Kunsthalle Winterthur, Winterthur/Switzerland (2019); Melly (formerly known as: Witte de With Center For Contemporary Art), Rotterdam (2017); Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane/Australia (2016); Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham/United Kingdom (2015); The Showroom, London/United Kingdom (2015); Western Front, Vancouver/Canada (2015); Gallery TPW, Toronto/Canada (2015); KIOSK, Ghent/Belgium (2014).

Group exhibitions include: Simóndi Gallery, Turin/Italy (2025); Performa Biennial, New York/USA (2023); Eurasia (MUHKA) and CARTA ’22 festival, Antwerp/Netherlands (2022); Steirischer Herbst Festival, Graz/Austria (2020 & 2014); Sonic Acts Festival, Amsterdam (2019); Lafayette Anticipations, Paris/France (2018); SALT, Istanbul/Turkey (2018); Prix de Rome, Kunsthal Rotterdam (2017); 6th Moscow Biennial, Moscow/Russia (2015); e-Flux, New York (2015); 8th Liverpool Biennale, Liverpool/United Kingdom (2014); New Museum, New York, (2014 & 2009); 12th Lyon Biennale, Lyon/France (2012); Lisson Gallery, London (2013);  Beirut Art Center, Beirut/Lebanon (2010); Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven/Netherlands (2008).