Shareef Sarhan
{{Short description|Palestinian artist, photographer, designer (born 1976)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Shareef Sarhan
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name = Wael Shareef Sarhan
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1976|11|25|df=y}}
| birth_place = Gaza City, Palestine
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Photographer, photojournalist, visual artist, designer
| years_active = 1998–present
| known_for = Photography, installation art, sculpture, multimedia art
}}
Shareef Sarhan (born 1976) is a Palestinian photographer, multidisciplinary visual artist, and designer. He is a founding member of Shababeek for Contemporary Art (Windows From Gaza); and has published two books, Gaza War (2007), and Gaza Lives (2012).
Early life
Shareef Sarhan was born on 25 November 1976, in Gaza City, Palestine.{{Cite book |last=de Vet |first=Annelys |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EmEYjEEFO6AC&pg=PA149 |title=Subjective Atlas of Palestine (أطلس فلسطين الذاتي) |date=2007 |publisher=010 Publishers |isbn=978-90-6450-648-2 |pages=149 |language=en|via=Google Books}}{{Cite web |date=April 16, 2012 |title=Gaza Lives! New Art Exhibit by Shareef Sarhan |url=http://salem-news.com/articles/april162012/gaza-lives.php |access-date= |website=Salem-News.Com}}{{Cite web |title=Shareef Sarhan |url=https://imagomundicollection.org/artworks/shareef-sarhan-letters-and-city/ |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=Imago Mundi Collection}}{{Cite web |date=6 August 2024 |title=Shababek for Contemporary Art: The Art Scene During Ongoing War |url=https://palmuseum.org/en/exhibitions-and-events/events-m/shababek-contemporary-art-art-scene-during-ongoing-war |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=The Palestinian Museum |language=en}}
Sarhan was enrolled in the Darat al Funun (English: Dara Academy of Jordanian Arts) summer academy that was hosted from 1999 to 2003, with Marwan Kassab-Bachi (1934–2016) serving as the director. He graduated in 2001 from the International Correspondence School (ICS) of Scranton, Pennsylvania, US.
Career
Sarhan began photography work in 1998, and mostly worked as a freelance photographer for international organizations.{{Cite web |last=Abu Rezk |first=Hani |date=26 June 2017 |title=Gaza artist turns waste into art |url=https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2017/06/gaza-artist-turns-waste-to-art.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921112120/https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2017/06/gaza-artist-turns-waste-to-art.html |archive-date=21 September 2021 |accessdate=31 January 2024 |website=Al-Monitor}} He has taken photographs of closed off areas within Palestine, and of the ongoing conflict.
Some of his notable visual artwork include {{ill|The Lighthouse of Gaza|ar|منارة غزة}} (2016), a public sculpture and installation; Clutter re-Making (2018), a sculptural installation; and Soldiers and the Concrete Base, multimedia (2019–2021).
In the summer of 2014, and during the course of the 51 days of Israeli offensive against Gaza, Sarhan created a series of 51 photographs related to the event.{{Cite web |date=2015 |title=Artist Talk: Shareef Sarhan |url=https://daratalfunun.org/?event=artist-talk-shareef-sarhan |accessdate=31 January 2024 |website=Darat al Funun - The Khalid Shoman Foundation}} Sarhan started visiting factories and workshops in Gaza in 2017 to collected discarded materials such as aluminum. He would take the discarded materials and created art in the form of Arabic letters in bright colors.
Sarhan is one of the founding member of Shababeek for Contemporary Art (Windows From Gaza), located on the Gaza Strip.{{Cite web |title=Shareef Sarhan |url=https://www.artwfg.ps/?action=biography&artc=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501040954/https://www.artwfg.ps/?action=biography&artc=1 |archive-date=May 1, 2019 |accessdate=29 January 2024 |website=Shababek from Gaza}}{{Cite web |last=Nayyar |first=Rhea |date=4 April 2024 |title=Gaza's Last Contemporary Art Space Destroyed by Israel |url=https://hyperallergic.com/891253/gazas-last-contemporary-art-space-decimated-by-israel/ |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=Hyperallergic |language=en-US}} Shababeek grew to some 250 members in 2019. The Shababeek for Contemporary Art building was located across from the Al-Shifa Hospital, and in April 2024 during the ongoing Gaza war, the building was destroyed by Israel. It was the last contemporary artist space in Gaza at the time.
Sarhan won the Bronze Award (2010) at the Festival of Arab Photographers Europe in Berlin, Germany. He is a member of the Palestinian Artists Association.
Sarhan was featured in a Deutsche Welle (DW) documentary titled, Preserving Gaza's Photographic History (2020), directed by Tania Krämer.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/new-documentary-explores-gaza-in-black-and-white-photos/a-54541370|title=New documentary: Gaza in black-and-white photos|website=Deutsche Welle (DW)|first=Tania|last=Krämer|date=13 August 2020|accessdate=29 January 2024}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Shareef Sarhan}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarhan, Shareef}}
Category:20th-century Palestinian male artists
Category:21st-century Palestinian male artists
Category:Palestinian contemporary artists
Category:Palestinian designers
Category:Palestinian installation artists