Khalil Rabah (born 1961, Jerusalem, Palestine; lives and works in Ramallah, Palestine) studied architecture and fine arts at the University of Texas and has long been concerned with the relationship between art and institutions. He is the initiator and artistic director of the Riwaq Biennial and a cofounder of Al Ma’mal Foundation for Contemporary Art in Jerusalem, and served on the curricular committee of Ashkal Alwan’s Home Workspace Program in Beirut from 2011 to 2015. In 2003, he founded the Palestinian Museum of Natural History and Humankind to “provoke curiosity and deepen our understanding of natural and cultural worlds.” Selected solo exhibitions include Fondazione Merz, Turin (2023); Sharjah Art Foundation, United Arab Emirates (2022); Kunstverein Salzburg (2022); Casa Árabe, Madrid (2016); Kunsthaus Hamburg (2015); e-flux, New York (2013); and Beirut Art Center (2012). He has participated in major group shows such as the 18th Istanbul Biennial (2025); Desert X Al Ula (2022); Lahore Biennial (2020); Manifesta 12, Palermo (2018); Sharjah Biennial 13: Tamawuj (2017); 6th Marrakech Biennial (2016); 2nd Kochi-Muziris Biennale (2014); Thessaloniki Biennial (2013); Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2012); Mathaf, Doha (2010); and 53rd Venice Biennial (2009). His first monograph, edited by Anthony Downey, was published by Sharjah Art Foundation and Hatje Cantz in 2022. Rabah was a finalist of the Vera List Center’s 2022–2024 Jane Lombard Prize for Art and Social Justice.
