Palestinian artist wins Ljubljana Biennale Grand Prize
Palestinian interdisciplinary artist and filmmaker Noor Abed won the Grand Prize of the 36th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts, one of the oldest such events in the world, which started 70 years ago.
Abed's work at the 2025 Biennale was inspired by traditional Palestinian folk dances. Taking inspiration from choreographic notations, which are a visual shorthand for dance, she created a series of drawings that record the movement of the stick, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.
Abed received the award at the opening ceremony with the international jury praising her for addressing and embodying choreographic issues in the context of current social and political developments.
They say that by using the stick as a method of self-defence, the artist underlines the premise that performing can be a survival method.
Born in 1988, Abed explores the role of aesthetics in the performance of rituals and the role of performance as a method of survival.
Her focus is on the ways ideology is embodied in movement, particularly on the relationship between movement and resistance, the role of collective rhythmic movement and the impact that common sentiments can have on efforts to build and foster the community.
The research residency prize went to Gabi Dao, an artist based between Canada and the Netherlands who goes by the pronouns they/them. Dao is interested in sensory entanglements and affirmations - the ways these can insist on counter-memory, multiple truths, other ways of knowing and blurred temporalities.
Dao received the research residency award for a project involving an experimental science-fiction film which features a family of humanoid cyborgs inhabiting a planet that has replaced Earth.
The artist explores the ways of building a family even when it seems impossible - either due to a dystopian situation or a situation in which family members do not fit the traditional gender roles. The work is also based on the life cycle of the mosquito, a creature that is both misunderstood and hated.
Meanwhile, Catalan singer, composer and experimental artist Maria Arnal received a special mention.
Her contribution to the biennale is a series of songs composed for the opening ritual in the exhibition and for the visitors' first journey through the different venues. The project is a fusion of traditional Iberian music with avant-garde pop and electronic music.
Running until 12 October, the 2025 Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts is curated by Spanish curator, art historian, and writer Chus Martínez, who has focused on the concept of oracle as a place where people meet the future.
The biennale is organised by the International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC) in cooperation with the Museum of Modern Art (Moderna Galerija) and the City Gallery, which also host the main exhibitions.
