Tewa Barnossa – Saja Amro
TEWA BARNOSA – ABOUT THE ARTIST
Tewa Barnosa’s artistic practice is distinguished by its interdisciplinary nature, spanning installation, painting, performance, and time-based media such as film essays and sound works. Based between Tripoli and Amsterdam, Barnosa approaches her work through critical observation and research-based knowledge interpretation, often examining the intersection of historical narratives and contemporary socio-political turbulence. Her practice is deeply informed by her history of cultural organizing and her work reviving artistic discourse in post-revolution Libya, notably through her founding of the art space WaraQ.
Her artistic focus lies in inherited memories and anti-colonial modes of being, exploring how lands, people, and species outlast the aftermath of genocidal and ecological continuums. Barnosa’s process unfolds along two interconnected trajectories: a sonic evocation that utilizes oral traditions, rhythms, and anti-colonial poetry rooted in Amazigh and Bedouin knowledge; and a visual trajectory that investigates the politics of the archive, questioning how imagery, iconography, and even video games manipulate past and ongoing political imaginaries. These works do more than document history; they position collective statements as ephemeral evidence and acts of resistance.
AWARDS
2025 Linz (at), ARS ELECTRONICA – S+T+ARTS Prize Africa, Award of Distinction
2020 Berlin (de), MARTIN ROTH INITIATIVE, Fellowship for Artists at Risk
EXHIBITIONS AS ARTIST
2025 Dro (it), CENTRALE FIES, In Yesterday’s Forecasts
2025 Den Haag (nl), KORZO THEATER, Ghannat: The Moon Above the Forelocks
2024 Amsterdam (nl), METRO 54, Written to Not Remain
2024 Cairo (eg), CAIROTRONICA, Bint El Barzakh: Daughter of The Isthmus
2023 London (uk), THE AFRICA CENTRE c/o SHUBBAK Festival, Totalitarian Props
2023 Amsterdam (nl), RIJKSAKADEMIE OPEN STUDIOS, False Facilities
2022 Bayreuth (de), IWALEWA HAUS University of Bayreuth African Artist Award
2021 Tripoli (ly), SHIFTING SANDS
2018 Tripoli (ly), ARTOUT: TO RECLAIM THE PUBLIC SPACE
PROJECTS AS CURATOR
2015–2023 Tripoli (ly), WARAQ ART SPACE Public Art Projects
PUBLICATIONS
2022 UNTIL WE MEET c/o LOCALE SUDAN
2020 KASHKOUL OF COLLECTIVE RESISTANCE
STUDIES
2024–2025 The Hague (nl), ROYAL CONSERVATORY, Institute of Sonology, Studies
2021–2023 Amsterdam (nl), RIJKSAKADEMIE VAN BEELDENDE KUNSTEN, Artist in Residence
BIO
Based in Tripoli (ly) and Amsterdam (nl)
1998 Born in Tripoli (ly)
LINKS
SAJA AMRO – ABOUT THE ARTIST
Saja Amro is a Palestinian architect, educator, and researcher based between The Netherlands and Palestine. Her artistic practice is defined by a critical investigation into how spatial design influences social relations, particularly within the realms of education and art display. Drawing on the principles of radical pedagogy and popular education, Amro seeks to disrupt traditional, hierarchical structures—such as the “banking model” of the classroom—to imagine egalitarian spaces that are responsive to the knowledge of their users.
Her work often explores the tension between institutional control and collective resistance. Through collaborative projects like Common Ground, she uses the kitchen and dining table as research laboratories to delve into female labor, culinary histories, and inherited knowledge. By centering indigenous traditions and sensory experiences, she challenges the isolating eating habits of late capitalism and envisions alternative, autonomous futures. Whether through screen-printed metal signs or communal cooking rituals, Saja’s process transforms personal and collective memories into tools for spatial justice and liberation.
EXHIBITIONS & PROJECTS
2025 Amsterdam (nl), FRAMER FRAMED, Checkpoint Time: Architectures of Control and Resistance
2025 Amsterdam (nl), FRAMER FRAMED, Reconstruction and Spatial Justice in Palestine
2025 Online, The Classroom is Burning, School for Radical Imagination
2024 Ghent (be), Labor of Love, Imagine Liberation, Gouvernement
2022 Rotterdam (nl), PROSPECTS ART FAIR, Firearms Prohibited at Prospects
ARTISTIC PROJECTS WITH COMMON GROUND (Anna Celda & Saja Amro)
2025 Amsterdam (nl), W139
2024 Amsterdam (nl), FOAM
2024 Brussels (be), KAAITHEATER
2024 Ghent (be), KUNSTHAL
TEACHING
2022–2026 Amsterdam (nl), GERRIT RIETVELD ACADEMY, Teacher/Tutor
STUDIES
2022 Amsterdam (nl), Sandberg Instituut, MA Disarming Design
BIO
Based in Palestine (ps) and Amsterdam (nl)
LINKS