Residency + Research

Shada Safadi was born in 1982 in Majdal Shams, the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. In 2004, Safadi completed a two-year class in painting and etching at Adham Ismail Institute, Damascus, following which she graduated with a degree in Fine Arts from Damascus University in 2005.

A founding member of Fateh Al Mudarris Center for Arts and Culture in Golan Heights, Safadi has participated in multiple exhibitions, including a solo exhibition at Fateh Al Mudarris Center for Arts and Culture, Majdal Shams in 2006. In addition, her work has been featured in exhibitions in Damascus and Aleppo in Syria; Jerusalem, Ramallah, Birzeit, and Bethlehem in the West Bank; Umea in Sweden; and London in the UK. Recently, she participated in the Syrian Cultural Caravan, with exhibitions in France, Germany, Norway, Spain and Belgium.

In 2008, Safadi won third place at A.M. Qattan Foundation’s Young Artist of the Year Awards for her series of paintings In the Presence of the Crow. In addition, in 2014 she was an artist-in-residence for three months at Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris. She currently lives and works between her hometown in Golan Heights and the West Bank.

Research Focus

During her research, Safadi will explore the migratory birds that cross the skies of the UAE. The topography of the country, its location, and the richness of its nature have formed a winter haven for more than 388 species of migratory birds. In her research, Safadi will compile stories of these birds through a series of interviews with people who raise birds and specialists in the UAE. Safadi will also visit several nature reserves in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, which are taking care of wildlife and helping to protect endangered species such as the houbara bustard.

Safadi will explore the possibility of linking these stories with the stories of the myna, a bird that settled in Palestine. Her project will also look at how to link these stories with subjects that she is working on such as the story of the karim bird, which has a special place in the religious community of occupied Golan. In addition, Safadi will look into links between these stories and the crow, a bird she previously focused on in a project during her studies in Damascus.