Sara Sallam
Works
Books & Prints
Information
Bio
Sara Sallam (b. 1991) is a multidisciplinary artist who grew up in Egypt and now lives in the Netherlands. Her research-based practice includes photography, moving images, writing, voice narration, archival interventions, and book-making. Through her work, she focuses on retelling contested histories by imagining counter-narratives and exploring empathy, fiction, and temporal juxtapositions as ways to reclaim and decolonise her Egyptian heritage.
She holds an MA in Film and Photographic Studies from Leiden University, an MA in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography from the University of the Arts London, and a BA in Media Design from the German University in Cairo. Her work has been exhibited recently at the Medelhavsmuseet (2025), the Museo Egizio (2024 and 2022), the Art & History Museum in Brussels (2023), the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (2023), the Laing Art Gallery (2023), the Tahrir Cultural Centre (2023), Magnum Foundation (2022), and the Sainsbury Centre (2022). She has also participated in Art Cairo (2023), Vantage Point Sharjah 9 (2021), Intersect 21 (2021), and Photo London (2020). Her work has been collected by individuals as well as institutions, including Museo Egizio in Turin, the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, the Art & History Museum in Brussels, the Museum of Old and New Art in Tasmania, the Sainsbury Centre in Norwich, and the Middlebury College Museum of Art in Vermont.
Sallam is represented by Tintera Gallery and currently teaches at Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam.
Contact
Email - Instagram - Linkedin
Sara Sallam (b. 1991) is a multidisciplinary artist who grew up in Egypt and now lives in the Netherlands. Her research-based practice includes photography, moving images, writing, voice narration, archival interventions, and book-making. Through her work, she focuses on retelling contested histories by imagining counter-narratives and exploring empathy, fiction, and temporal juxtapositions as ways to reclaim and decolonise her Egyptian heritage.
She holds an MA in Film and Photographic Studies from Leiden University, an MA in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography from the University of the Arts London, and a BA in Media Design from the German University in Cairo. Her work has been exhibited recently at the Medelhavsmuseet (2025), the Museo Egizio (2024 and 2022), the Art & History Museum in Brussels (2023), the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (2023), the Laing Art Gallery (2023), the Tahrir Cultural Centre (2023), Magnum Foundation (2022), and the Sainsbury Centre (2022). She has also participated in Art Cairo (2023), Vantage Point Sharjah 9 (2021), Intersect 21 (2021), and Photo London (2020). Her work has been collected by individuals as well as institutions, including Museo Egizio in Turin, the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, the Art & History Museum in Brussels, the Museum of Old and New Art in Tasmania, the Sainsbury Centre in Norwich, and the Middlebury College Museum of Art in Vermont.
Sallam is represented by Tintera Gallery and currently teaches at Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam.
Contact
Email - Instagram - Linkedin
Education
2019 MA Film and Photographic Studies (Cum Laude), Leiden University
2016 MA Photojournalism and Documentary Photography (Distinction), London College of Communication, University of the Arts London
2013 BA Media Design (High Honours), German University in Cairo
Self-Published Monographs
2025 You Know My Name (First Edition)
2021 A Tourist Handbook: Egypt Outside of Egypt (Second Edition)
2021 Let My Eyes Have a Glimpse of You
2020 A Tourist Handbook: Egypt Outside of Egypt (First Edition)
2020 If I Can Be Heard In The Place Where You Are
2020 At Last, I Hold Your Gaze
Residencies
2025 Sir John Soane’s Museum in London
2024 Jameel fellowship, Victoria and Albert Museum in London
2023 Medelhavsmuseet in Stockholm
2023 Villa Empain at the Boghossian Foundation for the Art & History Museum in Brussels
2022 The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts in Norwich
Solo Exhibitions
2025 You Know My Name, Medelhavsmuseet in Stockholm
2024 Permanent mixed-media installation The Sun Weeps for the Land and Calls from the Garden of Stones, Museo Egizio in Turin
2024 Poetic Written Responses to Ancient Egyptian Facsimiles, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
2024 Home Outside of Home, Middlebury College Museum of Art in Vermont
2024 Permanent video installation, I Prayed for The Resin Not to Melt, Art & History Museum in Brussels
2023 Expedition Egypt, Art & History Museum in Brussels
2022 Through Tutankhamun’s Eyes: Alternative Perspectives on Egyptology, Museo Egizio in Turin
2018 The Fourth Pyramid Belongs to Her, Darb 1718 Gallery in Cairo
Group Exhibitions
2024 MIA Photo Fair with Tintera Gallery
2023 This Story Will Never Get Finished, SCAN Festival in Tarragona
2023 Polycopies with aka TAWLA
2023 Cairo Art Book Fair with aka TAWLA
2023 Presence, Tahrir Cultural Centre at the American University in Cairo supported by Prince Claus Fund
2023 Home, Home, Home, Temporary Home, Sumac Space, Berlin
2023 Time & Again Kemet, Rijksmuseum Van Oudheden, Leiden
2023 Art Cairo, with Tintera Gallery, Grand Egyptian Museum, Cairo
2023 Visions of Ancient Egypt, Laing Art Gallery, New Castle
2022 An Expression of Absence, Magnum Foundation, New York
2022 Bound Narratives: a Photobook Library, Museo Novecento, Florence
2022 Visions of Ancient Egypt, The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich
2021 Vantage Point 9, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah
2021 A Whole Population of Poets, Sumac Space (online)
2021 Open Edition Gallery
2021 Familiar Faces: Spring Exhibition, Tintera Gallery, Cairo
2021 Intersect 21, with Tintera Gallery (online)
2020 Eternal Light II, Art D’Egypte at the Factory, Cairo
2020 Photo London, with Tintera Gallery (online)
2020 For The Love of Beirut (online print sale)
2020 The Female Gaze (online print sale)
2020 Diversify Photo Covid-19 Relief Print Sale (online print sale)
2019The Autumn Exhibition, Tintera Gallery, Cairo
2019 She Tells, B’sarya Gallery, Alexandria
2018 She Tells, Cairo Photo Week, Cairo
2018 Artchaeology: Intersection between Art and Archaeology, Nicosia Municipal Art Centre, Nicosia
2017 Humaness, Sexyland, Amsterdam
2017 Photobook presentation, Format Festival, Derby
2016 In The Forest of Things, University of the Arts London, London
2016 Photobook presentation, Offprint London, Tate Modern, London
2016 Photobook presentation, PhotoIndependent Art Fair, Los Angeles
2014 Layer of Green, Contemporary Image Collective, Cairo
2013 Spuren 2.0 Symposium, E-Werk, Freiburg
2013 Film Screenings, Goethe Institute Cairo and Artellewa Gallery, Cairo
Grants and Awards
2024 International Art Presentation Grant, Mondriaan Fonds
2020 Prince Claus Fund, Grant
2017 Mophradat, Grant for Artists
2016 Magnum Foundation, Arab Documentary Photography Program, Grant
2015 University of the Arts London, Vice Chancellor’s International Scholarship
2012 German University in Cairo, Excellence Award (covering a summer photography course at Berliner Technische Kunsthochschule, Berlin)
2010 German University in Cairo, Excellence Award (covering a summer animation course at Animation School, Hamburg)
2008 German University in Cairo, Excellence Award (covering a summer German language course at Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich)
Nominations and Shortlists
2024 Plat(t)form Portfolio Review of Fotomuseum Winterthur, Nominated and Participated
2023 Star Photobook Dummy Award, Nominated
2019 Stedelijk Museum’s Municipal Art Acquisitions 2020, Shortlist
2019 Magnum Foundation Fund, Shortlist
2018 Joop Swart Masterclass, Nominated
2018 Plat(t)form Portfolio Review of Fotomuseum Winterthur, Nominated
2017 Lange-Taylor Prize, Finalist
2017 The Friends of the Arab World Institute Award, Special Mention
2017 Joop Swart Masterclass, Nominated
2016 Plat(t)form Portfolio Review of Fotomuseum Winterthur, Nominated
2016 Kassel Dummy Award, Shortlist
2016 PhotoIndependent Art Fair, Shortlist
Talks
3.7.2024 From Landscapes to Museum and Back, Talk with Paolo Del Vesco at Gallerie d’Italia, Turin
3.5.2024 Guest Lecture in Conversation with Elisabeth Van Caelenbergeat the Art and History Museum in Brussels
8.2.2024 Artist Talk at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
23.12.2023 Theoretical Archaeology Group Conference, Sainsbury Centre, Norwich
9.12.2023 Show & Tell, Kunstinstitute Melly, Rotterdam
29.11.2023 Performative Collective Reading at the Medelhavsmuseet, Stockholm
23.9.2023 Artist Talk during the course ‘Musei e Trasformazioni Sociali’ at Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venice
3.9.2023 Guided tour at the Art and History Museum in Brussels
3.9.2023 Pannel Discussion Forever is Now: Ancient Egypt in Contemporary Art with Elisabeth van Caelenberge and Alice Stevenson at the Art and History Museum in Brussels
21.7.2023 Contemporary Art Interventions in Egyptian Collections, the Egypt Exploration Society
12.6.2023 Artist Talk at the Medelhavsmuseet, Stockholm
4.6.2023 Guided tour at the Art and History Museum in Brussels
26.5.2023 Listening to Tutankhamun, The Palladion
21.3.2023 Arab Documentary Photography Program
6.2.2023 Museums and Migrants, Museo Egizio, Turin
2.2.2023 Ancient Egypt and Modern Identities, British Museum, London
15.1.2023 Network Week, The Royal Academy of Arts, The Hague
8.12.2022 Annual Art Celebration, The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich
8.12.2022 La Chambre Claire, Crossroads, Algiers
1.12.2022 The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich
28.11.2022 The Display of Human Remains, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden
18.11.2022 Film Screening at Library Lates: Excavating The Egyptians, University of Oxford, Oxford
11.11.2022 Tutankhamun on Tahrir Square, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden
7.11.2022 Through Tutankhamun’s Eyes, Museo Egizio, Turin
1.7.2022 Film Screening at Performing Tutankhamun: One Hundred Years of Retellings, University of Birmingham, Birmingham
2.3.2022 Arab Documentary Photography Program
Work Experience
2023 (Ongoing) Lecturer/Kerndocent, Willem de Kooning Academy, Rotterdam
2021 - 2022 Tutor/Docent, Willem de Kooning Academy, Rotterdam
2020 (Ongoing) Self-Publishing as an Eenmanszaak, Delft
2016 Web and Graphic Designer, Alchemy Studio, Cairo
2011 - 2014 Freelance Designer, Cairo
Nov - Dec 2014 Film Editor, Avonbiehl Studio, Berlin
Apr - Oct 2014 Media Designer, Alchemy Studio, Cairo
Feb 2014 Film Editing Intern, Avonbiehl Studio, Berlin
2011 - 2012 Interface Designer, Nervora, Dubai (online)
Feb 2011 Design Intern, Nervora, Dubai
2009 - 2013 Junior Teaching Assistant, German University in Cairo, Cairo
Languages
Arabic, Mother tongue
2021 Dutch, NT2 Programma II Certificate
2020 Dutch C1, Kickstart School
2016 German B1.3, Ägyptisch Deutsches Kulturzentrum, Cairo
2014 English IELTS, British Council Egypt, Cairo
2013 Spanish A2.2, Instituto Cervantes, Cairo
2010 French B1, L’Institut Français d’Egypte, Cairo
2019 MA Film and Photographic Studies (Cum Laude), Leiden University
2016 MA Photojournalism and Documentary Photography (Distinction), London College of Communication, University of the Arts London
2013 BA Media Design (High Honours), German University in Cairo
Self-Published Monographs
2025 You Know My Name (First Edition)
2021 A Tourist Handbook: Egypt Outside of Egypt (Second Edition)
2021 Let My Eyes Have a Glimpse of You
2020 A Tourist Handbook: Egypt Outside of Egypt (First Edition)
2020 If I Can Be Heard In The Place Where You Are
2020 At Last, I Hold Your Gaze
Residencies
2025 Sir John Soane’s Museum in London
2024 Jameel fellowship, Victoria and Albert Museum in London
2023 Medelhavsmuseet in Stockholm
2023 Villa Empain at the Boghossian Foundation for the Art & History Museum in Brussels
2022 The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts in Norwich
Solo Exhibitions
2025 You Know My Name, Medelhavsmuseet in Stockholm
2024 Permanent mixed-media installation The Sun Weeps for the Land and Calls from the Garden of Stones, Museo Egizio in Turin
2024 Poetic Written Responses to Ancient Egyptian Facsimiles, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
2024 Home Outside of Home, Middlebury College Museum of Art in Vermont
2024 Permanent video installation, I Prayed for The Resin Not to Melt, Art & History Museum in Brussels
2023 Expedition Egypt, Art & History Museum in Brussels
2022 Through Tutankhamun’s Eyes: Alternative Perspectives on Egyptology, Museo Egizio in Turin
2018 The Fourth Pyramid Belongs to Her, Darb 1718 Gallery in Cairo
Group Exhibitions
2024 MIA Photo Fair with Tintera Gallery
2023 This Story Will Never Get Finished, SCAN Festival in Tarragona
2023 Polycopies with aka TAWLA
2023 Cairo Art Book Fair with aka TAWLA
2023 Presence, Tahrir Cultural Centre at the American University in Cairo supported by Prince Claus Fund
2023 Home, Home, Home, Temporary Home, Sumac Space, Berlin
2023 Time & Again Kemet, Rijksmuseum Van Oudheden, Leiden
2023 Art Cairo, with Tintera Gallery, Grand Egyptian Museum, Cairo
2023 Visions of Ancient Egypt, Laing Art Gallery, New Castle
2022 An Expression of Absence, Magnum Foundation, New York
2022 Bound Narratives: a Photobook Library, Museo Novecento, Florence
2022 Visions of Ancient Egypt, The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich
2021 Vantage Point 9, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah
2021 A Whole Population of Poets, Sumac Space (online)
2021 Open Edition Gallery
2021 Familiar Faces: Spring Exhibition, Tintera Gallery, Cairo
2021 Intersect 21, with Tintera Gallery (online)
2020 Eternal Light II, Art D’Egypte at the Factory, Cairo
2020 Photo London, with Tintera Gallery (online)
2020 For The Love of Beirut (online print sale)
2020 The Female Gaze (online print sale)
2020 Diversify Photo Covid-19 Relief Print Sale (online print sale)
2019The Autumn Exhibition, Tintera Gallery, Cairo
2019 She Tells, B’sarya Gallery, Alexandria
2018 She Tells, Cairo Photo Week, Cairo
2018 Artchaeology: Intersection between Art and Archaeology, Nicosia Municipal Art Centre, Nicosia
2017 Humaness, Sexyland, Amsterdam
2017 Photobook presentation, Format Festival, Derby
2016 In The Forest of Things, University of the Arts London, London
2016 Photobook presentation, Offprint London, Tate Modern, London
2016 Photobook presentation, PhotoIndependent Art Fair, Los Angeles
2014 Layer of Green, Contemporary Image Collective, Cairo
2013 Spuren 2.0 Symposium, E-Werk, Freiburg
2013 Film Screenings, Goethe Institute Cairo and Artellewa Gallery, Cairo
Grants and Awards
2024 International Art Presentation Grant, Mondriaan Fonds
2020 Prince Claus Fund, Grant
2017 Mophradat, Grant for Artists
2016 Magnum Foundation, Arab Documentary Photography Program, Grant
2015 University of the Arts London, Vice Chancellor’s International Scholarship
2012 German University in Cairo, Excellence Award (covering a summer photography course at Berliner Technische Kunsthochschule, Berlin)
2010 German University in Cairo, Excellence Award (covering a summer animation course at Animation School, Hamburg)
2008 German University in Cairo, Excellence Award (covering a summer German language course at Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich)
Nominations and Shortlists
2024 Plat(t)form Portfolio Review of Fotomuseum Winterthur, Nominated and Participated
2023 Star Photobook Dummy Award, Nominated
2019 Stedelijk Museum’s Municipal Art Acquisitions 2020, Shortlist
2019 Magnum Foundation Fund, Shortlist
2018 Joop Swart Masterclass, Nominated
2018 Plat(t)form Portfolio Review of Fotomuseum Winterthur, Nominated
2017 Lange-Taylor Prize, Finalist
2017 The Friends of the Arab World Institute Award, Special Mention
2017 Joop Swart Masterclass, Nominated
2016 Plat(t)form Portfolio Review of Fotomuseum Winterthur, Nominated
2016 Kassel Dummy Award, Shortlist
2016 PhotoIndependent Art Fair, Shortlist
Talks
3.7.2024 From Landscapes to Museum and Back, Talk with Paolo Del Vesco at Gallerie d’Italia, Turin
3.5.2024 Guest Lecture in Conversation with Elisabeth Van Caelenbergeat the Art and History Museum in Brussels
8.2.2024 Artist Talk at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
23.12.2023 Theoretical Archaeology Group Conference, Sainsbury Centre, Norwich
9.12.2023 Show & Tell, Kunstinstitute Melly, Rotterdam
29.11.2023 Performative Collective Reading at the Medelhavsmuseet, Stockholm
23.9.2023 Artist Talk during the course ‘Musei e Trasformazioni Sociali’ at Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venice
3.9.2023 Guided tour at the Art and History Museum in Brussels
3.9.2023 Pannel Discussion Forever is Now: Ancient Egypt in Contemporary Art with Elisabeth van Caelenberge and Alice Stevenson at the Art and History Museum in Brussels
21.7.2023 Contemporary Art Interventions in Egyptian Collections, the Egypt Exploration Society
12.6.2023 Artist Talk at the Medelhavsmuseet, Stockholm
4.6.2023 Guided tour at the Art and History Museum in Brussels
26.5.2023 Listening to Tutankhamun, The Palladion
21.3.2023 Arab Documentary Photography Program
6.2.2023 Museums and Migrants, Museo Egizio, Turin
2.2.2023 Ancient Egypt and Modern Identities, British Museum, London
15.1.2023 Network Week, The Royal Academy of Arts, The Hague
8.12.2022 Annual Art Celebration, The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich
8.12.2022 La Chambre Claire, Crossroads, Algiers
1.12.2022 The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich
28.11.2022 The Display of Human Remains, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden
18.11.2022 Film Screening at Library Lates: Excavating The Egyptians, University of Oxford, Oxford
11.11.2022 Tutankhamun on Tahrir Square, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden
7.11.2022 Through Tutankhamun’s Eyes, Museo Egizio, Turin
1.7.2022 Film Screening at Performing Tutankhamun: One Hundred Years of Retellings, University of Birmingham, Birmingham
2.3.2022 Arab Documentary Photography Program
Work Experience
2023 (Ongoing) Lecturer/Kerndocent, Willem de Kooning Academy, Rotterdam
2021 - 2022 Tutor/Docent, Willem de Kooning Academy, Rotterdam
2020 (Ongoing) Self-Publishing as an Eenmanszaak, Delft
2016 Web and Graphic Designer, Alchemy Studio, Cairo
2011 - 2014 Freelance Designer, Cairo
Nov - Dec 2014 Film Editor, Avonbiehl Studio, Berlin
Apr - Oct 2014 Media Designer, Alchemy Studio, Cairo
Feb 2014 Film Editing Intern, Avonbiehl Studio, Berlin
2011 - 2012 Interface Designer, Nervora, Dubai (online)
Feb 2011 Design Intern, Nervora, Dubai
2009 - 2013 Junior Teaching Assistant, German University in Cairo, Cairo
Languages
Arabic, Mother tongue
2021 Dutch, NT2 Programma II Certificate
2020 Dutch C1, Kickstart School
2016 German B1.3, Ägyptisch Deutsches Kulturzentrum, Cairo
2014 English IELTS, British Council Egypt, Cairo
2013 Spanish A2.2, Instituto Cervantes, Cairo
2010 French B1, L’Institut Français d’Egypte, Cairo