Khaled Barakeh

Burned(in)out

2022
Fire on Paper
30 x 23 cm; handstitched

Biography

Khaled Barakeh (b. 1976, Syria), is a conceptual artist and cultural activist living and working in Berlin whose practice is based on reframing moments of dissonance, and often outright injustice, in political, and social structures. Although he employs a wide range of artistic strategies, this is often achieved through deft manipulation of immediately recognizable and found objects, and preexisting imagery. In recent years, his projects have delved into the media’s portrayal of victims of conflict, once cohesive communities divided by political strife, and the dynamics of integration for refugees. Barakeh sees art as an opportunity for these moments to be understood, and felt, by a broader audience; not just the individuals which experience their acute effects. He graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Damascus, and received his MFA from Funen Art Academy in Odense, Denmark. In 2013, he completed a Meisterschuler study at the Städelschule Art Academy in Frankfurt. He is the founder of CoCulture e.V., a nonprofit organization that is focused on addressing the many challenges faced by displaced cultural producers in the Middle East, Europe, and beyond. Barakeh has exhibited at Künstlerhaus Stuttgart, the Shanghai Biennale, Salt Istanbul, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Artspace New Zealand, the Busan Biennale, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, among others.

Khaled Barakeh – Burned(in)out

Quarantined in Berlin; for Cities Under Quarantine – The Mailbox Project