{{Short description|Libyan oil painter}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox artist | birth_date = {{Year of birth and age|1996}} | birth_place = Benghazi, Libya | nationality = | style = Realism | education = University of Benghazi (B.A.) | known_for = Oil painting | website = {{URL|https://shefasalem.com.ly/}} }}
'''Shefa Salem''', in Arabic: '''{{Lang|ar|شفاء سالم}}''' (born 1996) is a Libyan artist, whose art reimagines Libyan heritage through realistic, large-scale oil-based works and murals. She was listed as one of ''Middle East Eye'''s 'Five Emerging Artists to Watch' in 2021.
== Biography == Salem was born in Benghazi in 1996.<ref name=":0" /> A graduate of the University of Benghazi, she left there in 2021 with a BA in Architecture.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=El-Assasy |first=Ahmad |date=24 November 2021 |title=Artist Reimagines Libyan History in Paintings |url=https://libyareview.com/19013/artist-reimagines-libyan-history-in-paintings/ |access-date=16 February 2025 |website=LibyaReview |language=en-US}}</ref> Her realistic, large-scale paintings and murals reimagine the history of Libya through its heritage and archaeology.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=23 November 2021 |title='I am Libya': 24-year-old artist Shefa Salem re-imagines Libyan history |url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20211123-i-am-libya-24-year-old-artist-shefa-salem-re-imagines-libyan-history/ |access-date=16 February 2025 |website=Middle East Monitor |archive-date=16 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250216150101/https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20211123-i-am-libya-24-year-old-artist-shefa-salem-re-imagines-libyan-history/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Morelli |first=Naima |date=3 March 2024 |title=Artists Exploring Libya's History, Cultural Resilience and Rebirth |url=https://themarkaz.org/artists-exploring-libyas-history-cultural-resilience-and-rebirth/ |access-date=16 February 2025 |website=The Markaz Review |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=AlMahdi |first=Hajir |date=10 October 2018 |title=The Spring of Libyan Artists – artmejo |url=https://artmejo.com/the-spring-of-libyan-artists/ |access-date=16 February 2025 |language=en-US}}</ref> Her first solo exhibition was entitled ''I Am Libya''; it took place in 2021 at the Barah Arts and Culture Centre in Benghazi, where she is based.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=War and love in Libya: How grassroots arts organisations are rising after revolution |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/discover/libya-tripoli-arts-organisations-rising-post-revolution |access-date=16 February 2025 |website=Middle East Eye |language=en}}</ref> Significant works include ''Kaska, Dance of War'' which depicts Libyan soldiers performing a kaska dance of the indigenous Timihu people, first recorded 5000 years ago in Deir El-Bahari.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title='All my work is Libya': Five emerging Libyan artists to watch |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/discover/libya-five-emerging-artists-watch |access-date=16 February 2025 |website=Middle East Eye |language=en}}</ref> Another work ''Libyan Flute'' is inspired by an ancient flute which was excavated by archaeologists in Libya.<ref name=":0" /> Salem found her inspiration for this by reading the journal ''Libyan Studies''.<ref name=":1" /> Another work, ''Funeral Ritual in the Acacus,'' is inspired by cave art from the Acacus Mountains dating to 4000 BC that featured a boat containing a group of people, one of whom was upside down and believed to be dead.<ref name=":1" />
In 2021 she was listed as one of ''Middle East Eye'''s 'Five Emerging Artists to Watch.'<ref name=":3" /> Her work has been compared to that of Tewa Barnosa, Afra Alashhab and Malak Elghuel by art patron Najlaa Elageli.<ref name=":2" /> In 2023 she was awarded a grant by Culture Resource (Al-Mawred Al-Thaqafy) to produce a new series of work entitled ''Ethnolibya.''<ref>{{Cite web |last=in |first=Beirut |title=Shefa Salem |url=https://mawred.org/participant/shefa-salem/?lang=en |access-date=16 February 2025 |website=Culture Resource |language=en-US}}</ref> The resulting exhibition was shown in December 2024 at Bernice University of Architecture and Urbanism in Benghazi,<ref>{{Cite web |title=منصة الدولة {{!}} معرض "إثنوليبيا- #Ethnolibya" التشكيلي الأدبي |url=https://aldawla.com.ly/?tag=%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%B6-%D8%A5%D8%AB%D9%86%D9%88%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A7-ethnolibya-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%B4%D9%83%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%AF%D8%A8%D9%8A |access-date=16 February 2025 |website=منصة الدولة |language=ar}}</ref> and in January 2025 at Iskandar House for Arts in Tripoli.<ref>{{Cite web |last=الوسط |first=بوابة |title=شفاء سالم فنانة ليبية تروي قصصا بريشة ما قبل التاريخ |url=https://alwasat.ly/news/art-culture/463230 |access-date=16 February 2025 |website=alwasat.ly |language=ar |archive-date=12 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250112175137/https://alwasat.ly/news/art-culture/463230 |url-status=live }}</ref> Works in the exhibition are inspired by the writing of Muhammad Al-Tarhouni and the poetry of Hamza Al-Falah.<ref>{{Cite news |title=أعمال تجمع التشكيل بالأدب.. معرض "إثنو ليبيا" سردية تاريخ قبائل البلاد {{!}} التلفزيون العربي |url=https://www.alaraby.com/news/%D8%A3%D8%B9%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%AA%D8%AC%D9%85%D8%B9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%B4%D9%83%D9%8A%D9%84-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%AF%D8%A8-%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%B6-%D8%A5%D8%AB%D9%86%D9%88-%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AE-%D9%82%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250121031410/https://www.alaraby.com/news/%D8%A3%D8%B9%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%AA%D8%AC%D9%85%D8%B9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%B4%D9%83%D9%8A%D9%84-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%AF%D8%A8-%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%B6-%D8%A5%D8%AB%D9%86%D9%88-%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AE-%D9%82%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AF |archive-date=21 January 2025 |access-date=16 February 2025 |work=التلفزيون العربي |language=ar |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=الوسط |first=بوابة |title=مشروع «إثنوليبيا».. سردية جديدة للتاريخ الليبي |url=https://alwasat.ly/news/art-culture/460714 |access-date=16 February 2025 |website=alwasat.ly |language=ar}}</ref>
== References == <references />
== External links == * {{Instagram}}
{{Authority control}} Category:1996 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century Libyan people Category:21st-century Libyan women Category:21st-century painters Category:21st-century women artists Category:Libyan painters Category:Muralists Category:People from Benghazi Category:Realist artists Category:University of Benghazi alumni Category:Women muralists Category:21st-century women painters Category:Libyan women artists