Photo by Susanne Sadri

Alqumit Alhamad is a Syrian artist from Raqqa, born in Jarash, Jordan, raised between Syria and Cyprus, and based in Gothenburg, Sweden. This movement across places, languages, and legal systems has shaped his understanding of negotiation as a condition of survival. His practice spans painting, illustration, drawing, installation, sculpture, textile, scent, and sound, examining how war, dictatorship, forced displacement, bureaucracy, and trauma shape memory, the body, and everyday life.

Working across media is a necessity in Alhamad’s practice, shaped by the difficulty of reconstructing memory after trauma. Parts of his memory became fragmented, damaged, or almost erased. His practice reconstructs, reworks, recreates, and fabulates memory through these forms, rather than treating memory as something that can simply be recovered. Drawing on artistic research, decolonial frameworks, and Saidiya Hartman’s critical fabulation, he works with gaps, fragments, and absence as both archival questions and conceptual methods for understanding his own past.

His academic background spans graphic design, visual communication, design, and fine art, with formal artistic training beginning in 2011. He holds an MFA in Fine Art from HDK Valand, University of Gothenburg. In 2026, he was named Årets konstgenombrott, Breakthrough Artist of the Year by Göteborgs Posten. His recognitions include Ung Svensk Form 2025, Young Swedish Design Award, and the Vera and Göran Agnekils Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts. His work has been shown internationally, including at the British Museum, SOAS University of London, Liljevalchs Konsthall, OnBoards Biennale, Berlin Central Station, Dunkers Kulturhus, IKEA Museum, and Museum für Fotokopie.