Lake Hawea

Mohad Ben Fahmi is an established painter with a Post Graduate Diploma in Fine Arts from the University of Auckland. Proving that an artist need not be tied down to one place, Fahmi’s life between the Arabic world and Aotearoa has seen him design murals for Dubai International Airport and participate in five Sharjah Biennials, while also establishing a Studio of Contemporary Art in 2001 with Auckland-based artist Carole Shepheard. Having spent many years living in Dubai, he is once again based in Tāmaki Makaurau with his adult children.

Fahmi enjoyed a prolific exhibiting agenda prior to the global pandemic, having exhibited across Beirut, Berlin, Cyrpus, Baghdad, Paris, Moscow, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, New York, Sydney, and more, with twelve solo exhibitions behind him. His impact has been recognised with a number of awards and commissions, such as the best painter award in the Festival of Iraqi Universities and third prize in the Contemporary Arab Art Exhibition, Dubai. Fahmi is also a founding member of both the Emirates Fine Arts Society and the Wall Group of Arts Society, and is an active member in artist spaces such as the Auckland Artist Group and Arab Fine Arts Union.