Rola Khayyat
About:
Rola Khayyat is a Lebanese visual storyteller, curator, and educator based in Doha. Her interdisciplinary practice blends photography, archives, and personal narratives to explore war, memory, and belonging. Rooted in socially engaged research, her work challenges erasure and silenced histories.
Khayyat holds a BA in History from the American University of Beirut, a diploma in Drawing from the Florence Academy of Art, and an MFA in Photography from Columbia University. Her work has been exhibited internationally at venues including apexart, Gorki Theater, Kunstraum llc, the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, JKC Gallery, Pfizer, Fisher Landau Center, Forum Eugenio de Almeida, Okk/raum 29, and the Catalyst Arts Belfast Photo Festival. She has curated exhibitions such as Light in Wartime (apexart, NY), An Expression of Absence (Magnum Foundation/Bronx Documetary Center), Ellipsis;Folds of Memory (Historical Museum of Bosnia, Gallery Manifesto, Kuma International, VII Academy Sarajevo) and BEYroute (3rd Thessaloniki Biennial). Her work has appeared in The Nation, Jadaliyya, L’Oeil de la Photographie, and JMEWS.
Khayyat has received fellowships and grants from apexart, Magnum Foundation, Civitella Ranieri, Kamen Artist Residency, Artellewa, and Fire Station Museum, among others. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Art at VCUarts Qatar.
Rola Khayyat is a Lebanese visual storyteller, curator, and educator based in Doha. Her interdisciplinary practice blends photography, archives, and personal narratives to explore war, memory, and belonging. Rooted in socially engaged research, her work challenges erasure and silenced histories.
Khayyat holds a BA in History from the American University of Beirut, a diploma in Drawing from the Florence Academy of Art, and an MFA in Photography from Columbia University. Her work has been exhibited internationally at venues including apexart, Gorki Theater, Kunstraum llc, the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, JKC Gallery, Pfizer, Fisher Landau Center, Forum Eugenio de Almeida, Okk/raum 29, and the Catalyst Arts Belfast Photo Festival. She has curated exhibitions such as Light in Wartime (apexart, NY), An Expression of Absence (Magnum Foundation/Bronx Documetary Center), Ellipsis;Folds of Memory (Historical Museum of Bosnia, Gallery Manifesto, Kuma International, VII Academy Sarajevo) and BEYroute (3rd Thessaloniki Biennial). Her work has appeared in The Nation, Jadaliyya, L’Oeil de la Photographie, and JMEWS.
Khayyat has received fellowships and grants from apexart, Magnum Foundation, Civitella Ranieri, Kamen Artist Residency, Artellewa, and Fire Station Museum, among others. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Art at VCUarts Qatar.