Monia Ben Hamouda Tunisian, Italian, b. 1991
Born 1991. Milan, Italy
Lives and works between al-Qayrawan, Tunisia and Milan, Italy.
Following the belief that each individual is inextricably connected to their family tree and the psychological universe of their ancestors, Ben Hamouda attempts to master her influences in a contemporary and constantly changing landscape. Born into a Muslim community as the daughter of an Islamic calligrapher, she navigates and confronts her generational heritage through what she calls a shamanic process – creating works that act as gestural exorcisms of the expectations placed upon her by tradition and the politicized present, drawing their power from the urgency of expression. Her visual language, which translates into a broad range of formal approaches, is steeped in cultural-religious symbology and rituals.
She earned a BFA at Brera Academy of Fine Art in Milan and is currently an Affiliated artist resident at the American Academy in Rome. She was awarded with the Maxxi Bvlgari Prize (2024), the Vordemberge-Gildewart Foundation Grant (2024), the Fondazione Merz Prize (2024), the Museion Audience Award (2024), the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant (2022), the Italian Council for Contemporary Art (2023; 2024).
Her work is featured in public collections such as: MAXXI, Rome; FRAC Bretagne, Rennes; Museion, Bolzano; Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin; TBA21 Thyssen - Bornemisza Collection, Madrid; FRAC Corsica, Corse.
Education
BFA at Brera Academy of Fine Art, Milan IT.
Solo Exhibitions
2025 Solo show, Curated by Gioia del Molin, Museo Casa Rusca, Locarno
Solo show, curated by Thomas Conchou, La Ferme du Buisson, Noisiel (France)
YA’ABURNEE – يقبرني, curated by Anissa Touati, Selma Feriani Gallery, La Goulette (Tunisia)
2024
MAXXI BVLGARI PRIZE IV, curated by Giulia Ferracci, MAXXI National Museum of 21st Century Art, Rome
NYX, double exhibition with Maude Léonard-Contant, Istituto Svizzero, Milan
2023 About Telepathy and other Violences, ChertLüdde, Berlin
The Destruction of the Idols of Ka’ba, Casa Encendida, Madrid
2022 Remarkably Clear, Almost Invisible, curated by Anthony Discenza, Ashes/Ashes, New York
Wudu Diorama, curated by Anthony Discenza, Lower Cavity, Boston
Hamra, curated by Karen Vestergaard Andersen and Helen Nishijo Andersen, Ariel Feminism, Copenhagen
The eye, the hands, The Lunacy of Lunar Sightings, curated by Anissa Touati, Jevouspropose, Zurich
2021 Night of Hinnã, ChertLüdde, Berlin
Two suns upon Shatt al Jarid, curated by Nestor Garcia Diaz, Carles Àngel Saurí, Paula García-Masedo, Pols, Valencia
2019 Extended protection, Allegoric Defence, curated by Camilla Edström Ödemark, Gallery CC, Malmö
2017 MIRANDA, Pane Project, Milan
It Won’t Only Kill You, it will Hurt the Whole Time You’re Dying, Double solo with Michele Gabriele, OJ, Istanbul
Group Exhibitions
2025 14th Taipei Biennial 2025: Whispers on the Horizon, Curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, Taipei
Group show, Curatedy by Francesco Urbano Ragazzi, Palazzina Bagni Misteriosi, Milan
2024 Milan Drawing Week, Spazio Lima, Milan
A soft edge to break a sword, ChertLüdde Potsdamer Straße 97, Berlin
Kin, Spiritvessel, Espinavessa
Survival Kit, Curated by Jussi Koitela, Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art, Riga
Sex Reenchanted, Curated by Mehveş Ungan, Heidelberger Kunstverein, Heidelberger
Renaissance, Curated by Leonie Radin, MUSEION Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Bolzano
EXPOSURE. Art, culture, fashion in and out of the showcase, Curated by Katya Inozemtseva, MUDEC – Museum of Cultures, Milan
2023 Darker, Lighter, Puffy, Flat, curated by Laura Amann, Kunsthalle Wien, Wien
L’autre Musée, The Treasures Of A Major Contemporary Art Collection, Frac Bretagne, Rennes Paris Internationale, w/ ChertLüdde, Paris
Spirit Vessel Residency, curated by Sira Piza and Andrew Birk, Espinavesa
My Demons My Angels, ChertLüdde, Berlin
Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn – Deep Knowledge, Kunsthalle Mainz, Mainz
Retrofuture, collection, MACRO – Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome, Rome
www, curated by Natalia Serkova & Vitaly Bezpalov, Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art, Copenhagen
2022 The Lying Body: Only the Futures Revisit the Past, curated by Emanuele Guidi, Arge/kunst, Bolzano
A Feminine Lexicon, curated by Pia Diamandis, Giacomo Donati and Elena Tortelli, Museo Salvatore Ferragamo, Florence
2021 Cry me a River, curated by Treti Galaxie, Combo – Official lounge Artissima, Turin
Museo Diffuso Contemporaneo, Serralunga d’Alba
Ducato Prize winners exhibition, Volumnia, Piacenza
Perno 4, curated by Musketeers, project coordinator Clarissa Tempestini, Museo Diffuso Contemporaneo, Serralunga d’Alba
Ducato Prize winners Exhibition, Volumnia, Piacenza
2020 Endless Nostalghia, curated by Treti Galaxie, 101 Numeri pari, Museo Pecci Prato, Piazza del Campidoglio Rome and Online
Collagen Shadows, curated by Zoë De Luca, ADA, Rome
Blade Banner, curated by Dafne Boggeri, Sprint & Istituto Svizzero,, Museo Civico di Scienze Naturali, Milano
Love Data – Alios 16 me Biennale d’Art, Contemporain Théâtre Cravey Pavilion, La Teste-de-Bûch
2019 NORTHERN LIGHTS, curated by Something Must Break, Alta art space, Malmö
Unsupported Message Format, curated by Pierre Clement, Galerie Valeria Cetraro, Paris
Orrido 120 residency, curated by Something Must Break and Zoe De Luca, Swan Station, Buco del Piombo
Swamp Horses, curated by Andrew Birk, Spirit Vessel + ALTAN, Espinavesa
2018 WET, Haunt project space, Yogyakarta
Swamp Thing versus Man-thing, curated by Anthony Discenza, Et.al gallery, San Francisco
First I Have to Put my Face On, Like a Little Disaster, curated by Cristina Gigliotti, Polignano a Mare
Hope, curated by New Scenario, Universitätssammlungen Kunst, Dresden
Trigger Party #6, curated by Siliqoon, Marselleria Permanent Exhibition, Milan
Fantasy Direct vol II, The Wrong – Digital Art Biennale, Nathan Road, Hong Kong
2017 The Bunt, curated by Fred Powell, Ginny Projects, London
Assiette ou Virage et Dérapage, curated by Something Must Break, Milan
2016 Milano Film Festival, Milan
VideoEspanso, RivoliDue Fondazione per l’Arte, Contemporanea, Milan
2014 L’Intimità dell’immagine come luogo in comune, curated by Gianni Caravaggio, Viafarini DOCVA, Milan
Curatorial Projects
2024 To Romanticize with Indecision, Curated by Monia Ben Hamouda & Michele Gabriele, Cassina Projects, Milan
Residencies & Lectures
2025 Residency at American Academy in Rome - Bvlgari MAXXI American Academy
in Rome Affiliated Artist in collaboration with MAXXI and Whitney Museum, Rome
2024 Artist Talk at MAXXI - Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo
Artist Talk at Italian Embassy in Riga, Latvia
2023 Artist Talk at Kunsthalle Mainz, Germany
2022 Lower Cavity Residency Holyoke, Massachusetts
2021 Talk at Artissima Fair, Turin
Visiting Professor at Istituto Marangoni, Florence
Visiting Professor at Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Dresden
2019 Orrido 120 residency, Swan Station, Buco del Piombo
2016 Academy Awards residency, Viafarini, Milan
2015 Filmidee summer residency, Filmidee, Sardinia
2014 Jury member at Filmmaker Festival, Milan