“Barakeh offers deeply considered visual amalgamations of historic categories—of art, of war, of geopolitics and economies—that compels one to consider our position in the contemporary moment. In her recent installations and projects, Barakeh shows an incredible sensitivity to site-specificity and interest in pushing on the understanding of the connections between exterior conditions and interior trauma.”– jurors Ileana Tejada, Senior Manager, Fellowships and Programs, Headlands Center for the Arts and Laura Phipps, Associate Curator, Whitney Museum of American Art.

Zeina Barakeh (b. Beirut) is a Palestinian Lebanese artist based in the Bay Area whose work is influenced by her upbringing amidst numerous conflicts in Lebanon. While her artwork broadly engages with the discourse of war, her research delves into military emerging technologies, the blurred boundaries between humans and machines, and the evolving nature of warfare, encompassing kinetic and cyberwarfare. 

Her work has been featured in exhibitions and film festivals including the Salesforce Tower Top, SF; ZAZ Corner Jumbotron, Times Square, NY; Muceum, Marseille, France (upcoming); Schneider Museum of Art, OR; Catharine Clark Gallery, SF; Zimmerli Art Museum, NJ; Peabody Essex Museum, MA; Asian Art Museum, SF; Yinchuan MOCA, China; Bernstein Gallery at Princeton University, NJ; Hamzianpour & Kia Gallery, LA; Middle East Institute, DC; San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art; and published in Art Journal Open to name a few. Notable screenings include the 11th Harlem International Film Festival; 13th Blue Plum Animation Festival; and 15th Another Hole in the Head film festival. Residency awards include Perspectives: Here and There, Brodsky Center for Innovative Editions, Rutgers University; and Vermont Studio Center.