Sharif Waked (1964)
شريف واكد
Lives and work in Haïfa and Nazareth
Sharif Waked was born in Nazareth to a Palestinian refugee family from the village of Mjedil. Through ironic reflections on power and politics, Waked overturns established aesthetic formations and ponders the absurd realities of political conflict. Waked has exhibited at various biennials and museums in the Middle East, Europe and the United States including Banja Luka Biennial (Bosnia and Herzegovina); Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia; Queens Museum of Art inNew York (United States); Sharjah Biennial 9 (United Arab Emirates); Huarte Centro de Arte Contemporneo (Spain); Bluecoat Gallery inLiverpool (England); Artists Space in New York (United States); The Israel Museum in Jerusalem; Meeting Points 5 in Berlin (Germany); The Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo (Norway); The Seconde Riwaq Biennale in Ramallah (Palestine); and the Tate Modern in London (England).
Chic Point, 2003
The most salient feature of Palestinian life has become the Israeli imposed closure. Through hundreds of checkpoints, the Israeli occupation forces curtail people’s movement, and subject them to humiliating surveillance. Today, Israel regards the individual Palestinian body as the most dangerous weapon. In order to pass through checkpoints, Palestinians are forced to lift their clothing and reveal their abdomens, to prove that they are not carrying explosives, that they are not walking human bombs. Chic Point is a video shot in a fictional location: the occupation catwalk. Employing all the conventional codes of a fashion show, models reveal their abdomens in outfits designed especially for that purpose.
