b. 1967, Chbanieh, Lebanon; lives and works in New York, U.S.

Walid Raad is a contemporary media artist working across disciplines, examining the connections between politics, violence, and cultural narratives. In much of his work, Raad deals with the contemporary history of Lebanon, especially the Lebanese Civil War of 1975 - 90. Amongst Raad’s best-known work is The Atlas Group, a fictional foundation which encompasses his documentation of the Lebanese Civil Wars. As The Atlas Group, Raad produces film, photography, and multimedia installations which he re-dates and reattributes to fictionalized figures. Details defining the founding of The Atlas Group shift over time, including when, where, and by whom it began.Its fluid, indefinite state reflects Raad’s interest in the effects of personal and collective trauma on memory and its articulation. Raad is also a member of the Fondation Arabe pour l’image which collects and exhibits photographic testimony from the Arab world.

Walid Raad's recent solo exhibitions include Walid Raad: Cotton Under My Feet: The Zürich Chapter, Kunsthaus Zürich, Zürich (2024); Walid Raad: Cotton Under My Feet: The Hamburg Chapter, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg (2023); Walid Raad: We have never been so populated, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York (2022); We Lived So Well Together, Kunsthalle Mainz, Mainz (2022); Walid Raad: Chapelle des Jésuites, Musée d’art contemporain de Nimes, Nimes (2021); Walid Raad – I long to meet the masses once again, Kirche der Jesuiten Sankt Peter Köln, Cologne (2020); Let's be honest, the weather helped, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (2019); Yet Another Letter to the Reader, Fondazione Volume!, Rome (2017); Walid Raad: Section 39_Index XXXVII: Traboulsi, Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong (2016); Walid Raad, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; traveled to Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, Boston; Museo Jumex, Mexico City (2015); Walid Raad: Préface, Carré d’Art: Musée d’art contemporain de Nîmes, Nîmes; travelled to Museo MADRE, Napoli (2014); Walid Raad – Preface to the First Edition, Musée du Louvre, Paris (2013); Scratching on Things I Could Disavow: A History of Art in the Arab World, dOCUMENTA(13), Kassel (2012); Abstract Possible, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2011); Walid Raad: Miraculous Beginnings, Whitechapel Gallery, London (2010); and The Atlas Group (1989-2004): A Project by Walid Raad, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin (2006). Group exhibitions include Signals: How Video Transformed the World, Museum of Modern Art, New York (2023); Forum Expanded, 73rd Berlin International Film Festival, Berlin (2023); 11th Seoul Mediacity Biennale: One Escape at a Time, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul (2021); Understudies: I, Myself Will Exhibit Nothing, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2021); Time, Forward!, V-A-C Zattere, Venice (2019); General Rehearsal: A Show in three acts from the collections of V-A-C, MMOMA and KADIST, Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Moscow (2018); Mobile Worlds, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, Hamburg (2018); Hämatli & Patrice, MUSEION of Modern and Contemporary Art Bolzano, Bolzano (2017); I am you, you are too, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2017); Question the Wall Itself, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2016); An Imagined Museum Works from the Centre Pompidou, Tate and the MMK, Tate Liverpool, Liverpool; MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt; Centre Pompidou-Metz, Paris (2015); and America is Hard to See, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2015).

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