Nujoom Alghanem (b. 1962, Dubai) is a pioneering Emirati artist, poet, and multi-award-winning film director. Her multifaceted career which spans four decades, explores forms of storytelling. A core aspect shared by the three art forms is a sense of healing that they lend to their maker.
Nujoom is a longstanding member of the UAE’s creative scene from its very beginnings. During the 1980s, she cofounded Aqwas Collective with the late legendary artist Hassan Sharif, Youssef Khalil and Khalid Albudoor in an attempt to look beyond traditional art by experimenting with free-verse poetry composition, constructionism, and post-modernism – inviting a certain amount of criticism. The group orchestrated pop up exhibitions in public spaces, like Central Market of Sharjah (1985) in addition to producing Silsilat Al Ramad (Chain of Ashes), a non-conventional poetry, art, and short stories publication.
In 2019, Nujoom made history becoming the first woman to stage a solo exhibition at the UAE’s pavilion at the Venice Biennale, showing Passage,a site-specific film installation. The installation was recreated in 2021 for a solo presentation at Abu Dhabi Art and again in 2022 as part of Portrait of Nation II: Beyond Narratives. Other solo exhibitions include An Imaginary Portrait of Palestine, Tashkeel – Al Fahidi, Dubai, UAE (2022) and Malamih – Faces, Phantoms, and Expressions, Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah, UAE (2021).
Nujoom was commissioned by Abu Dhabi Art for the 2023 Artist Commissions in Cultural Sites to create Artifacts of the Current Moments, an immersive multi-layered art installation spreading over seven rooms of Al Jahili Fort, Al Ain. Nujoom was also one of the particapted artists of Manar Abu Dhabi, a light installation Flying Ships was on display on Lulu Island. Nujoom was recently invited by Art Jameel to take part in Huarere: Weather Eye, Whether Ear, curated by Janine Anderson and presented by Te Tuhi as a partner agency of the global project 'World Weather Network' in response to the climate crisis (2023). She showcased That Sea, an immersive video installation at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, ADNEC, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2023). Additionally, she participated in Khaleej Modern: Pioneers and Collectives in the Arabian Peninsula, NYUAD Art Gallery, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2022); Union of Cultures, Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Foundation, Dubai, UAE (2022); Portrait of a Nation II: Beyond Narratives, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2022); Ramadan Arcade, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2021); Tashweesh: Noise of Materials, Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah, UAE (2018); Untold Stories Retold, Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2018); The Room of Mysteries, 21st Sharjah Islamic Art Festival, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE (2018); Mind the Gap, Tashkeel, Dubai, UAE (2017); Rock, Paper Scissors: Positions in Play, UAE National Pavilion, Venice Biennale, Italy (2017); MinD/Body, DUCTAC, Dubai, UAE (2013); and 4th Emirates Fine Arts Society Annual Exhibition, Expo Center, Sharjah, UAE (1985).
Nujoom has published eight poetry collections and produced around twenty films including short fiction, documentaries, and art films, earning regional and international awards and recognition. Nujoom has a BA in Video Production from Ohio University in 1996 and an MA in Media Production from Griffith University in Australia in 1999.