Joud Fahmy Saudi Arabia, b. 1994

Joud Fahmy's practice explores the experience of inhabiting a body, of navigating what it means to exist as a woman in public and private spaces. Through sculpture, textile, and mixed media, she translates emotional experience into material form, exploring how tension, pressure, and repetition shape both body and material. Her work investigates the relationship between self, objecthood, and the world, using materials to give form to the invisible and marginalized experiences that shape human life.

In 2023, Joud Fahmy received her MA in Contemporary Art Practice from the Royal College of Art. Prior to her art career, she represented Saudi Arabia as a Judo Olympian at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games (2016). She was selected for the Hayy Learning Programme by Art Jameel (2019) and has received several recognitions, including the Maan Grant from Athr Foundation (2020). She also participated in the Contemporary Art Summer School at the Royal College of Art (2021) and the ISTIKSHAF program with the Goethe-Institut in Berlin (2022). Her work has been exhibited at Tate Modern Late and Leighton House Museum (2023). She later received support from public funding by Arts Council England through the Developing Your Creative Practice grant (2024–2025) and completed a one-year residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, sponsored by the Al-Mansouria Foundation (2024–2025). Fahmy exhibited at Abu Dhabi Art Fair (2025) and participated in the group exhibition Under Her Wings: Acts of Protection at Hunna Art Gallery x Emergeast, curated by Alymamah Rashed (2025–2026). She was also selected to represent Saudi Arabia at the Saudi Pavilion during Japan Expo 2025 in Osaka (2025). She received a grant from the Visual Arts Commission for the Intermix Residency (Third Edition), Riyadh (2026). Fahmy is a member of the Royal Society of Sculptors.