NAJAH ZARBOUT (B.1979)

Najah Zarbout is originally from Kerkennah (Tunisia). After studying at the Institut Supérieur des Arts et Métiers de Sfax, she was accepted at the Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne where she obtained a PhD in Arts and Sciences of Art. She currently holds a position as an assistant professor at the Institut Supérieur des Beaux-Arts de Sousse.

Zarbout is interested in subjects related to current events, the individual, and contemporary society. Her visual creations deal with the relationship to the other in its different aspects. She thus proposes a metaphor of the human being in its submission or its disobedience, and invites the viewer on an imaginary journey through the matter of paper. Behind her seemingly playful works, hide deep and daring subjects.

Her artistic practice takes various forms, ranging from drawing to video, through photography and installation. For a few years, she has developed an approach focused on paper cutting. From embossing to folding or laceration, in various combinations mixing light, lines, and cuts, she provokes a dialogue with the paper.

In 2018, Najah Zarbout represented Tunisia at the Dakar Biennale (Senegal). In addition to a significant number of solo and group exhibitions, her work has been shown in several fairs and salons in Tunisia and abroad (France, Switzerland, Belgium, Morocco, Kuwait, etc.). She is the winner of the Grand Prix Arts Plastiques of the "Ici et demain" festival in 2008 (France). Her works are present in the collection of the Tunisian State and in several private collections in Tunisia and abroad.


︎ najahzarbout.com