Asmaa Elnawawy

Short Biography

Asmaa graduated from the oil painting department of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Helwan University in 2003 and joined its teaching staff the same year. She began exhibiting while still a student and won several prizes at Cairo’s annual Salon of Youth. In 2013 she earned her PhD, and in 2014 she received the State Award for Creativity. The award came with a residency and scholarship at the Egyptian Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, and during this period she exhibited regularly in Italy. She became an Associate Professor in 2021 and served as Vice Dean of Community Service and Enterprise at The British University in Egypt from 2023 to 2024. In recent years she has held solo exhibitions in Cairo and exhibited in Oxford, London, Rome and New York.

Education

Asmaa graduated from the oil painting department of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Helwan University, in 2003. In 2013 she earned a PhD in the philosophy of art from the Visual Arts Department of the same faculty.

Exhibitions

Asmaa has held four solo exhibitions in Cairo: at the Gezira Art Centre (2004), ‘Mythology’ at Almasar Gallery (2019), ‘Neurotransmitters’ at Magdoub Design Studio (2020) and ‘Time Capsules’ at Picasso Art Gallery (2021). Her international group exhibitions include King Tut Collective, held in 2022 at the Ashmolean Museum and St John’s College galleries in Oxford, with the Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH). In 2023 King Tut Collective continued at the Egyptian Cultural and Educational Bureau in London as part of the Egyptian Cultural Season. In 2024 she exhibited at Rome Art Week and in the Bridging Cairo & New York design show with Saphira & Ventura Gallery. Her years in Italy included exhibitions such as ‘L’Egitto si presenta (Roma verso Expo)’ at the Vittoriano (2015) and ‘Viewings 1, Contemporary Women Artists’ at ARTROM Network Gallery (2015). She also took part in Luciano Benetton’s Art Project with the Benetton Foundation (2014) and in shows at the Egyptian Academy and the Romanian Academy in Rome. In the Arab region she has exhibited at the Ayla Symposium in Jordan (2018), the Kuwait International Forum (2017), Jeddah Gallery (2016) and AL M. Gallery in Kuwait (2014 and 2016). She also took part in the CAB International Art Symposium in Amman (2015), held under the patronage of HRH Princess Wijdan Al Hashemi. Her work has also travelled to England, China, France, Germany, Azerbaijan, Syria, Libya and Greece, where she took part in an exhibition accompanying the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. In Egypt she has shown at the Empower Her Art Forum at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (2024) and the annual women’s exhibition ‘Noon and Fnon’ at Picasso Art Gallery (2025). Her earlier shows include the Cairo Salon (2016), the Cairo Art Fair (2016) and the Museum of Modern Art in Cairo (2013), along with the annual Salon of Youth from 2001 to 2006.

Awards

Asmaa received the State Incentive Award for Art from the Supreme Council of Culture, Ministry of Culture, in 2018. In 2014, she received the State Award for Creativity, which brought a residency and scholarship at the Egyptian Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. The same year she was named one of the top ten artists in the Women in the Arts International Art Competition by ARTROM Network Gallery in Rome. At the Salon of Youth in Cairo she won an honor prize in drawing (2001), an honor prize in painting (2004), the Wheel of Culture Prize (2005), and the Library of Alexandria Prize (2006). She also won an honour prize in painting at Helwan University (2003) and a prize at the Fine Arts Lovers Association exhibition (2000).

Additional Information

Asmaa’s work is held in public and private collections in Egypt, the Arab region and beyond. These include the Museum of Modern Art in Egypt, the Museum of Modern Art in Jordan, the Library of Alexandria and the Embassy of Egypt in Kuwait. In 2022 she served as Commissioner of the Luxor International Symposium. She speaks English and Italian.