Wael Shawky received his BFA at the University of Alexandria, and an MFA at the University of Pennsylvania. He has presented solo exhibitions at Gallery Sfeir-Semler, Beirut; Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto, Biella; Townhouse Gallery, Cairo; and Ludwigsburg Kunstverein, Ludwigsburg, among others. He has participated in numerous group exhibitions at Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal; Arko Museum, Seoul; Queens Museum of Art, New York; 7th SITE Santa Fe Biennial; Carré d’Art—Musée d'Art Contemporain, Nimes; Kunstmuseum Thun, Switzerland; October Art Salon, Belgrade; the 2nd Riwaq Biennale, Palestine; the 2nd Moscow Biennale; the 9th International Istanbul Biennial; Focus Istanbul; Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin; Platform Garanti, Istanbul; Museo di arte contemporanea, Rome; and the 50th Venice Biennale. He is the recipient of the Grand Prizes of the 6th International Cairo Biennale and the 25th Alexandria Biennale; the International Commissioning Grant, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York; and the International Award of The Islamic World Arts Initiative, Arts International, New York. He is the founding director of MASS Alexandria, an independent art education space for young artists.