Mohammed Abou El Naga is a multidisciplinary visual artist, art professor, curator and developer. Throughout his colorful career, he has created award winning art projects, assisted his community and brought up a new generation of young artists with his teaching and his workshops. Born in Tanta, Egypt, Abouelnaga graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts and completed his PhD in Philosophy of Art from Alexandria University. He made history as the first Middle Eastern artist to receive a grant from the Japan Foundation to study the art of papermaking.

At Cairo University, he teaches painting using non-traditional techniques that integrate different materials with imaging and printing methods. He is also driven to use raw, environmentally friendly and recycled materials.

Through his extensive travels and workshops in Africa, India, and the Far East (especially Japan), Abouelnaga has succeeded in creating a dialogue between different cultures using diverse materials mainly fabric and paper. His aim was not only to bridge the gap between the cultures but also to revive deep rooted traditional crafts.

El-Naga has exhibited his work in solo presentations in Egypt and internationally, showcasing a diverse range of mediums such as painting, video and installation. He represented Egypt at the 2002 Venice Biennial and received first prize at the 2001 Alexandria Biennial. He has recently received the first price for his “Video Art - Cairo 11” from the Danube Video Art Festival in Austria.

Abouelnaga was the curator of the Qatar Visual Art Center. In 2002 at the Alexandria Bibliotheca, he created “Imagining the Book”, the biggest and most successful Artist Book Biennale. In 2009, he was assigned by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture to become the curator of the 25th Alexandria Biennial for Mediterranean Countries. In 2011, he was the curator of the Sharjah Children Art Biennial. Abouelnaga recently participated at the Trans-Cultural Exchange Conference in Boston.

In 2002, he founded Elnafeza for Contemporary Art & Development working to create sustainable employment in rural villages and communities in Egypt by reviving the traditional craft of papermaking.

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