about

Contact

ismailbahri.atelier@gmail.com


Gallery

Grey Noise Gallery



Copyright and royalties for Ismaïl Bahri’s works are managed by ADAGP, Paris, since September 2024

Bio

Born in 1978 in Tunis, Tunisia / Lives and works between Paris and Tunis

Ismaïl Bahri uses video, drawing, sculpture and sound, with no one specialization. He positions himself as an observer to set up a device for capturing gestures and empirical experiments, paying attention to “what happens”. His work is interested in the meaning that emerges at the periphery of the gaze, in the presence of the surrounding world that emerges and reveals its presence.

His work has been exhibited internationally in institutions including the Centre Pompidou, Jeu de Paume, Museo Reina Sofía, Beirut Art Center, Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, and IVAM Institut Valencià d’Art Modern. His films and videos have been presented at international festivals and platforms including the Toronto International Film Festival, New York Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, FIDMarseille and Kunstenfestivaldesarts.

In 2023–2024, Ismaïl Bahri was a fellow at the Villa Medici (Académie de France à Rome), where he pursued research combining film, drawing and sculptural experimentation.

 

Solo exhibitions

2027 (Upcoming)
Title to be announced, Selebe Yoon, Dakar, Senegal
Title to be announced, Grey Noise Gallery, Dubai, UAE

2026 (Upcoming)
Rewind, Le Creux de l’Enfer, Thiers, France

2022
Films, Grey Noise Gallery, Dubai, UAE
Digital, La Boîte, Tunis, Tunisia

2021
Sans titre, Selma Feriani Gallery, Tunis, Tunisia

2019
Invisible Concern, Le Forum, Hermès Foundation, Tokyo, Japan (Curator: Guillaume Désanges)
Kusunoki, Nijō-jō, Kyoto, Japan (Curator: Mouna Mekouar)

2018
Des gestes à peine déposés dans un paysage agité, La Verrière, Brussels, Belgium (Curator: Guillaume Désanges)
Instrumentos, Centro Cultural Porto Seguro, São Paulo, Brazil

2017
Ce qui demeure, Selma Feriani Gallery, Tunis, Tunisia
Instruments, Jeu de Paume, Concorde, Paris, France (Curators: Marta Gili and Marie Bertran)

2015
Blank Film, Les Filles du Calvaire Gallery, Paris, France

2014
Sondes, Les Églises Contemporary Art Center, Chelles, France (Curator: Eric Degoutte)
Sommeils, Espace Khiasma, Les Lilas, France (Curator: Olivier Marboeuf)
Aflora, Alliance Française, Bogotá, Colombia
Détail se dilate, Selma Feriani Gallery, Tunis, Tunisia

2012
Précipités, Les Filles du Calvaire Gallery, Paris, France

Selected group exhibitions

2026
Soleil Noir, Villa Medici, Rome, Italy (Curator: Morad Montazami)
Loss Marginalia, Qattan Foundation, Ramallah, Palestine (Curator: Amin Alsaden)
The Interludes and Transitions, Diriyah Biennale, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (Curators: Nora Razian and Sabih Ahmed)
L’Envol des sirènes, Octave Cowbell, Metz, France

2025
The Vertigo of the Images, TEA – Tenerife Espacio de las Artes, Tenerife, Spain (Curator: Marta Dahó)
Pierre et mer mêlées, MAC Bahia, Salvador, Brazil
Sympnea, Selebe Yoon, Dakar, Senegal (Curator: Camille Levy Sarfati)
In Vivo, Le Creux de l’Enfer, Thiers, France
Om acht uur?, RIB, Rotterdam, Netherlands (Curators: gerlach en koop)

2024
Mode d’emploi, MAMCS – Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
Thinking Like a Mountain, GAMeC, Bergamo, Italy
Nos douleurs montées sur un soleil comme un cheval de course, Bir Lahjar, Tunis, Tunisia
Chambre des échos, IAC Villeurbanne/Rhône-Alpes project, France (Curator: Justine François)
Enghien Biennale 5, Enghien, Belgium
A Più Voci, Villa Medici – French Academy in Rome, Italy
Biennale Gherdëina 9: The Parliament of Marmots, Val Gardena, Italy (Curator: Lorenzo Giusti)
Video from Dream City, Kanal – Centre Pompidou, Brussels, Belgium
Atlas, Nébuleuses du Sphinx, MAC LAU, Quebec, Canada
Notte Bianca, Villa Medici – French Academy in Rome, Italy

2023
Machinations, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain (Curators: Pablo Allepuz, Manuel Borja-Villel, Iliana Fokianaki, Rafael García and Teresa Velázquez)
Ni île, FRAC Normandie, Caen, France

2022
Beyond a Certain Point There Was No Return, A Tale of a Tub, Rotterdam, Netherlands (Curator: Katia Krupennikova)
Science Fictions (works from the IAC collection), Centre d’art Ugine, France 
Les Sentinelles (works from the CNAP collection), IMA Tourcoing, France
À l’œil nu, Galerie Michel Journiac, Paris, France
Back of My Hand, Carpintarias de São Lázaro, Lisbon, Portugal (Curator: Sarah Branco)

2021

Le Tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours, CAPC Musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France (Curator: Sandra Patron)
With a Hint of Adventure, Musée d’Art Contemporain de Lyon, Lyon, France
Mediterraner, La Friche Belle de Mai, Marseille, France
From Seeing to Acting, Looiersgracht 60, Amsterdam, Netherlands
(Curator: Julian Ross)

2020
Record of the Invisible, Le Grand Café, Saint-Nazaire, France
Le Plan Libre, Galerie Jocelyn Wolff, Romainville, France
Le Cabaret du Néant, Château de Rentilly, France
Oblique Strategies 1, Martine Aboucaya Gallery, Paris, France
Oblique Strategies 2, Martine Aboucaya Gallery, Paris, France

2019
De l’amitié, Marcelle Alix Gallery, Paris, France
Touché!, Beirut Art Center, Beirut, Lebanon
Persona Grata, MAC VAL Museum, Vitry-sur-Seine, France
What a Dot Become, Akinci Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Parallel Crossings, STUK, Leuven, Belgium

2018
Dénouement, Dazibao, Montreal, Canada
À la lumière, FRAC Occitanie, France

2017
Sans réserve, MAC VAL Museum, Vitry-sur-Seine, France
Ghosting of Beings and Worlds, Grey Noise, Dubai, UAE
La salud y sus metáforas, Museo de Arte de Zapopan (MAZ), Zapopan, Mexico
Sharjah Biennial, Sharjah, UAE
Be Aware, Record, FMAC, Geneva, Switzerland

2016
Uprisings, Jeu de Paume, Paris, France (Curator: Georges Didi-Huberman)
Incorporated!, Ateliers de Rennes – La Criée, Rennes, France (Curator: François Piron)

2015
Là où commence le jour, LaM – Lille Métropole Musée d’art moderne, France (Curator: Marc Donnadieu)
The Bamako Encounters, Bamako, Mali
The Pen Moves Across the Earth, Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada
Vernacularity, Wyspa Institute of Art, Gdańsk, Poland
Art in the Chapels, Trinity Chapel, Cléguérec, France

2014
Collective Collection, BBB art center, Toulouse, France

2013
Sharjah Biennial, Sharjah, UAE (Curator: Yuko Hasegawa)
La Fuerza de Coriolis, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santiago de Chile, Chile (Curator: Béatrice Josse)
Le geste premier, BBB art center, Toulouse, France
Sans matières ajoutées, CNEAI, Chatou, France
L’Arbre de vie, Collège des Bernardins, Paris, France
Mandrake a disparu, Espace Khiasma, Les Lilas, France
Intimacies, Savvy Contemporary, Berlin, Germany
Art Paris, Les Filles du Calvaire Gallery, Paris, France
The Acquisitions, Artothèque d’Angers, Angers, France

2012
Benin Biennial, Centre Kora, Cotonou, Benin
JF_JH (Liberty), Appartement 22, Rabat, Morocco
Quand l’art déborde, Lab’Bel Group, Lons-le-Saunier, France
Carthage Contemporary, Carthage Museum, Tunisia
Point Fragile, Selma Feriani Gallery, London, United Kingdom

2011
Intentions fragiles, Les Filles du Calvaire Gallery, Paris, France
Lumière noire (Neue Kunst aus Frankreich), Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, Germany
Working for Change, Spazio Punch, Venice, Italy
Human Frames, KIT – Kunst-im-Tunnel, Düsseldorf, Germany
After the Rage, Lo and Behold, Athens, Greece
Paris Photo, Les Filles du Calvaire Gallery, Paris, France
Frontières, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal

2010
Frontières, Centrale Électrique, Brussels, Belgium
Reframing Reality, Museet for Samtidskunst, Roskilde, Denmark
Fotografia Europea, Teatro Valli, Reggio Emilia, Italy
Bamako Encounters, Cape Town National Gallery, South Africa
Bamako Encounters, Johannesburg Art Gallery, South Africa

Selected film screenings

2026
États généraux du documentaire, Lussas, France
— CICI – Contemporary Image Collective, Cairo, Egypt

2024
Gordian Knot, MoMA, New York, USA
Festival de la Villa Medici, Villa Medici – French Academy in Rome, Italy
Some Strings, La Compagnie, Marseille, France

2022
Cinema Flux, Teatrino Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy

2021
Sur les bords, T2G – Théâtre de Gennevilliers, France
Woche der Kritik, programme “See Through”, Berlin, Germany
Film/Art: Wavelengths, Colgate University, USA
— Cinemigrante Film Festival, Buenos Aires, Argentina

2020
New York Film Festival (NYFF), Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, New York, USA (Curator: Aily Nash) - (Winner: Ammodo Tiger Short Competition)
Gabès Cinéma Fen Festival, Gabès, Tunisia
Foyer, Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles, Paris, France
IndieLisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
Punto de Vista, Gijón, Spain
El Kazma, Gabès, Tunisia
International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), Rotterdam, Netherlands

2019
—  FOYER, Gallery 9, Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai, EUA

2018
— SOURCE / ORIENTATIONS / FOYER, Friche Belle de Mai, Marseilles, France
— L’invitation aux musées Week-end, CND Pantin, France
—  Carte blanche à L’Agence du court métrage, Cinéma 1 - Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
— SCAM-SACD : Expérimental Cinema, Cinema Aventures, Brussels, Belgium
— «Walter Benjamin à Marseille» / Festival Image de Ville, Videodrome 2, Marseille, France
— Kunstenfestival des arts, Bruxelles, Belgique
— Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Japan
— CARTE BLANCHE À ISMAÏL BAHRI, Cyclorama, Lyon, France
— BEYOND WHAT THE CAMERA CAN SEE, The Mosaic Rooms, London, Great Britain

2017
— MIEFF Festival, Moscow, Russia
— VIDEOEX Experimentalfilm & Video Festival, Zürich, Switzerland
— FILMADRID Festival Internacional de Cine, Madrid, Spain
— IFF Jeonju International Film Festival, Seoul, Korea
— BIEFF Bucharest International Experimental Film Festival, Bucarest, Romania
— PUNTO DE VISTA, Navarra, Spain
— IFFR, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Holland
— COURTISANE, Ghent, Belgium

2016
— TRNSCINEMA, Lima, Peru
— AFLAM Cinémas Arabes, Marseille, France
— MAGHREB DES FILMS, Paris, France
— KASSEL DOKFEST Film festival, Kassel, Germany
— FIAC / PLATFORM, Palais de la découverte, Paris, France
— TYFF, Toronto Film Festival, «Wavelengths» section, Toronto, Canada
— NYFF, New-York Film Festival, « Projections », Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, New York, USA
— FID Marseille, «Ecrans Parallèles», Marseille, France
— COTE COURT, «Première image», Pantin, France
— PREMIERE IMAGE, Cinéma Nouvel Odéon, Paris
— LA VILLE AU CORPS, Le Carreau du Temple, Paris
— THE INVISIBLE SCENT OF HISTORY, Thurgood Marshall Ballroom West, Washington DC, USA

2014
— NYFF, New-York Film Festival, « Projection », Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, New York, USA
— MEDIA CITY film festival, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
— ALFILM, Berlin, Germany

2013
— CINEPHEMERE, FIAC, Jardins des Tuileries, Paris, France
— FIDMARSEILLE, Parallels screens, Marseille, France
— LES LIGNES DE GESTE, Wendel Auditorium, Centre Pompidou Metz, France
— VIDEOGRAPHIES 50, Sauvenière cinema, Liège, Belgium
— JAPAN MEDIA FESTIVAL, The National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan

2012
— SUNDAY’S SCREENING, Les filles du calvaire gallery, Paris, France
— L’EAU ET LES REFLETS DU MONDE, Le Collège des Bernardins, Paris, France
— RISING IMAGES, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France

2011
— VIDEO.IT, Fondation Mario Merz, Turin, Italy
— BUSAN INTERNATIONAL VIDEO ART, Busan, South Corea
— VIDEO TRANSITIO, Museo Nacional de Arte, Mexico, Mexico
— RESISTANCE[S] III, Cinematheque of Tangier, Marocco
— LA VIDEOTHEQUE, ENSBA, Paris, France

2010
— RESISTANCE(S) III, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
— RESISTANCE(S) III, British Film Institute, London, Great Britain
— RESISTANCE(S) III, Fondazione Mario Merz, Torino, Italy
— SUNDAY’S SCREENING 3, Les filles du calvaire gallery, Paris, France
— VIDEOFORMES, Clermont-Ferrand, France
— ARAB SHORTS, Goethe-Institut du Cairo, Egypt
— FIAV VIDEO FESTIVAL, Casablanca, Marocco
— SUPERMEGADROPS 6, CRAC Centro Ricerca Arte Contemporanea, Cremona, Italy

Selected biennials

Diriyah Biennale, Saudi Arabia, 2026
Sharjah Biennial, UAE, 2017
Sharjah Biennial, UAE, 2013
Ateliers de Rennes – Biennale d’art contemporain, France, 2016
Rencontres de Bamako – African Biennale of Photography, Mali, 2015 
Rencontres de Bamako – African Biennale of Photography, Mali, 2010

Collections

Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
IAC – Institut d’art contemporain, Villeurbanne, France
MAC VAL Museum, Vitry-sur-Seine, France
FRAC Lorraine, France
FRAC Grand Large, France
Caldic Collectie, Netherlands
CNAP – Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Paris, France
Lazaar Foundation, London, United Kingdom
Artothèque d’Angers, France
Artothèque du Limousin, France
Collection de la Ville de Lyon, France
Département de Seine-Saint-Denis, France

Residencies

— 2023–2024 : Fellow at Villa Medici (Académie de France à Rome), Rome, Italy

— June 2026 : Selebe Yoon, Dakar, Senegal (Verso)
— January 2025 : Selebe Yoon, Dakar, Senegal (Resto)
— October 2024 : La Maison Flottante, Normandy, France
— May 2015 : Sémaphore du Créac’h, Ouessant Island, France
— January-March 2015 : Artistes en résidence, Clermont-Ferrand, France
— March 2014 : Alliance Française, Bogotá, Colombia
— January 2013 : January 2014 — Fabrique Phantom, Paris, France
— June 2012 : Appartement 22, Rabat, Morocco
— August 2010-December 2011 : Cité internationale des arts, Paris, France