ABOUT

Omnia Salah ElDIN ATTIA (1981)

Born in Cairo in 1981

Instagram: omniasalah8

“Long live the Man”, 2012, 5:04 min

My practice investigates the shifting position of the human subject within contemporary Middle Eastern societies, with a particular focus on the representation of women, systems of control, and the construction of identity. Working across sculpture, installation, video, and interactive media, I examine how social, political, and technological forces shape both individual experience and collective consciousness. Rooted in personal narratives, my work expands toward broader cultural questions. I explore the tensions between lived experience and mediated reality, questioning how identities are continuously constructed, fragmented, and redefined through mass culture, digital technologies, and social expectations. A central concern in my practice is the evolving relationship between humans and systems whether biological, social, or technological. I investigate how contemporary life is increasingly governed by invisible structures: algorithms, networks, and media platforms that reshape perception, communication, and self-representation. These systems not only influence how we see the world, but also how we see ourselves, often producing hybrid identities that exist between physical and virtual realities.

Omnia Salah Eldin Attia (b. 1981) is a contemporary Egyptian visual artist, researcher, and academic. She currently serves as an Associate Professor at the University of Hertfordshire, hosted by the Global Academic Foundation (GAF) in Cairo. Previously, she held the position of Acting Head of the Sculpture and Architectural Formation Department at the Faculty of Applied Arts, Helwan University, where she has over 19 years of experience teaching media arts and digital aesthetics at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Attia’s artistic practice explores the complex intersections between popular culture, digital technologies, identity, and social transformation within Arab societies. Her work navigates themes such as gender, cultural memory, mass media, and the impact of consumerism. Using a wide range of media including sculpture, installation, video, and digital 3D forms, she creates immersive and conceptually rich works that challenge traditional boundaries of art. Since 2000, Attia has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Egypt and internationally, including the Cairo Youth Salon, the General Exhibition, and festivals in Spain and Germany. Her notable projects include "Arachnida", "I Agree", "On Hold", and "Perfect House", each delving into the personal and collective transformation of identity in the digital era. Her academic background includes a Ph.D. and a Master’s degree from Helwan University, both focused on the evolving nature of threedimensional art in the context of contemporary media. She held a research fellowship in Germany (2012) and recently received the DAAD Study Visit Grant for Artistic Disciplines and Architecture (2024) to conduct artistic research at the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst in Leipzig. Attia’s work reflects a deep commitment to bridging the gap between traditional sculpture and digital media, aiming to develop a personal visual language that speaks to the hybrid realities of modern existence.