Khadija Baker

Khadija Baker is a Montreal-based, multidisciplinary artist of Kurdish-Syrian descent (born 1973 in Amuda, Syria). Baker immigrated to Canada from Syria in 2001; she completed her MFA studies at Concordia University 2012. She is a core member of the Centre for Oral History & Digital Storytelling (COHDS) at Concordia University. Her installations investigate social and political themes centered on the uncertainty of home as it relates to persecution, identity, displacement, and memory. As a witness to traumatic events, unsettled feelings of home are a part of her experience. Her multidisciplinary installations often combine textiles, sculpture, performance, sound and video, and involve participative storytelling and performance to create active spaces for greater understanding. Baker continues her research creation at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Society and Culture (CISSC) at Concordia University.

Baker has had solo exhibitions at galleries and institutions across Canada and has also participated in many international exhibitions, including, live performance with Atassi Foundation at Alserkal, Dubai, the 3rd Istanbul International Triennial, Istanbul, Turkey; the 6th DocuAsia Forum, Vancouver, Canada; the 12th International Exile Film Festival, Gothenburg, Sweden; the 27th Instant Video festival, Marseille, France; the inaugural Syria Contemporary Art Fair, Beirut, Lebanon; the 17th CONTACT Photo Festival, Toronto, Canada; the 2nd Biennale of IZMIR, Turkey; the 18th Biennale of Sydney, Australia; the 6th OFTTA festival, Montréal, Canada; the 10th International Diaspora Film Festival, Toronto, Canada; the 22nd Festival Les Instants Vidéo, Marseille, France; the 1st New York Kurdish Film Festival, New York, USA; the 19th and 13th Festival Accès Asie, Montreal, Canada; the 5th London Kurdish Film Festival, London, UK; and the official exhibition marking Damascus’ role as the 2008 UNESCO Arab Capital of Culture, Damascus, Syria – as well as well as group shows in Vienna, Austria; Paris, France; Berlin, Germany; Delhi, India; Beirut, Lebanon; London, UK; New York and San Francisco, USA; and several locations across Canada and Cultural capitals around the globe. She was also awarded several research, creation and travel grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des arts et des letters du Québec. Most recently she was a winner of the 2020 Cultural Diversity in Visual Arts Award.