Questions of belonging and identity have permeated Gui Mohallem’s work for some time. After a six-week residency in Lebanon, awarded to him by the Brazilian Ministry of Culture’s Cultural Exchange and Diffusion Program in 2012, the artist came into direct contact with aspects of exile, upon which he grew to understand his own origins and some of the identity traits of family members.
A Film and Video degree holder from ECA-USP, he had his first solo show in New York City in 2008. In the years that followed, he had showings at MuBE, Sesc Pompeia and the Olido, Babel, Baró Cruz, Luciana Caravello, and Emma Thomas galleries. He has also exhibited in the USA, Iceland, and Estonia, was involved in Photoespaña’s Descubrimientos program, and in the 18th Sesc_Videobrasil Festival.
In 2011, he won second place in the Conrado Wessel prize. He has partaken in art residency programs in São Paulo and Beirut, Lebanon. He has two books out, Welcome Home (2012) and Tcharafna (2014). He was a speaker at Brazil’s leading photography festivals, and his works are in major collections including Itaú Cultural, Videobrasil, Centro Cultural São Paulo, Luiz Chrysostomo, Nilo Cecco, Fernando Abdalla, Alfredo Setúbal, etc.