Ali El-Darsa, Beirut-born, lives in Berlin and works mainly in video, film, performance and installation. He holds a Master of Visual Studies (MVS Studio) from the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto. His work examines microhistories, questions of identity and issues of belonging within transnational contexts — emphasizing the psychological and the specificity of time-based media in regard to creating networked and mediated memories and narratives. His research in performance art often manifests in forms of site-specific, endurance and durational work.

El-Darsa's work has been exhibited internationally. His performance-based research, “Playground,” will be presented at the 5th Biennale de Casablanca in Morocco, and his feature film, “The Leopard,” currently in development, was nominated for the Robert Bosch Stiftung Film Prize and the Assembly Lab of the Open City Documentary Festival, London.

Ali El-Darsa is Villa Aurora Fellow of the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe.

Solo Exhibitions (Selection)

2018 | Playground, Ashkal Alwan, Beirut, Lebanon

2017 | Hellerau European Center for the Arts Dresden, Germany

2017 | Zwischenspiel, Alserkal Project Space, Dubai, UAE

2016 | The Color Remains the Same, Dazibao Gallery, Montréal, Canada

Group Exhibitions (Selection)

2021 | Playground, 5ème Biennale Internationale de Casablanca, Morocco

2019 | The Color Remains the Same, Sharjah Film Platform, Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE

2016 | A Study of Dismantling, Lebanese National Library, Beirut, Lebanon

2015 | Complex Social Change, Doris McCarthy Gallery, University of Toronto Scarborough, Canada

Awards (Selection)

2019 | Nomination of The Leopard for the Robert Bosch Filmprize, Robert Bosch Stiftung, Germany

2018 | Arts Abroad program award, Canada Council for the Arts, Canada

2016 | Development grant for film and video, Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec, Canada

2015 | Faculty design prize, John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, University of Toronto, Canada

2015 | Ontario Graduate Fellowship, Province of Ontario, Canada

2014 | The Benjamin Hard Lobko Memorial Award, Toronto, Canada