The Low-Res Visiting Artist & Scholar Lecture Series resource guides contain upcoming speakers' biographies, articles, video and audio content, related publications in the Flaxman Library, and additional online resources. These guides may be used in preparation for the public lecture, studio visits, and post-lecture discussion.
WAFAA BILAL: MONDAY, JUNE 23, 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. CT
SAIC Ballroom, 112 South Michigan Avenue
Wafaa Bilal is an Iraqi-born, internationally acclaimed artist known for provocative, interactive work exploring war, cultural memory, and political trauma. His groundbreaking 2007 performance, Domestic Tension, where online users shot him with a paintball gun, was hailed by the Chicago Tribune as “one of the sharpest works of political art in a long time.” Bilal’s projects—including 3rdi, …and Counting, and 168:01—merge technology and the body to confront erasure and conflict, with exhibitions at the Venice Biennale and beyond. His memoir, Shoot an Iraqi, chronicles his personal journey and artistic activism. Named one of Foreign Policy’s 100 Leading Global Thinkers (2016), he received the Creative Capital Award (2021) for his biotech-based project In a Grain of Wheat. His first major museum survey, Indulge Me, at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (2025) cements his place among the most influential artists of the 21st century. His work is held in collections including LACMA and MATHAF.
Cannibalism alone unites us”: Wafaa Bila’s Imperatives of Consumption [Essay]
Bana Kattan (Editor) | Wafaa Bilal: Indulge Me, Distributed Art Publishers | February 11, 2025
Shoot an Iraqi
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Wafaa Bilal's childhood in Iraq was defined by the horrific rule of Saddam Hussein, two wars, a bloody uprising and time spent interned in chaotic refugee camps in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Bilal eventually made it to the United States to become a professor and a successful artist, but when his brother was killed by an unmanned U.S. Predator drone, he decided to use his art to confront those in the comfort zone with the realities of life in a conflict zone. His response was "Domestic Tension," an unsettling interactive performance piece: for one month, Bilal lived alone in a prison cell-sized room in the line of fire of a remote-controlled paintball gun and a camera that connected him to Internet viewers around the world. Visitors to the gallery and a virtual audience that grew by the thousands could shoot at him twenty-four hours a day. The project received overwhelming worldwide attention and spawned provocative online debates; ultimately, Bilal was named Chicago Tribune's Artist of the Year. Structured in two parallel narratives, the story of Bilal's life journey and his "Domestic Tension" experience, Shoot an Iraqi, is for anyone who seeks insight into the current conflict in Iraq and for those fascinated by interactive art technologies and the ever-expanding world of online gaming. Iraqi-born artist Wafaa Bilal has exhibited his art worldwide, and traveled and lectured extensively to inform audiences of the situation of the Iraqi people, and the importance of peaceful conflict resolution. Bilal's 2007 dynamic installation "Domestic Tension" gained global recognition, being named Artist of the Year by the Chicago Tribune. Bilal has held exhibitions in Baghdad, the Netherlands, Thailand and Croatia; as well as at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, the Milwaukee Art Museum and various other US galleries. His residencies have included Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, California; Catwalk in New New York; and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Wafaa Bilal: Indulge Me
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Bilal puts his body on the line to condemn the Iraq War, expose US-Iraq tensions and highlight immigrants' struggles in America Wafaa Bilal's (born 1966) complex artistic practice spans a range of mediums and interests, including performance, time-based media, sculpture and interactive and digital technologies. He frequently incorporates--and risks--his own body in his pieces: allowing an audience to shoot him with paintballs or having a video camera drilled into his head. Accompanying his first major survey, at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, this critical volume covers the breadth of Bilal's versatile career, centering on his performance practice. It highlights significant early works such as Domestic Tension (2007) and 3rdi (2010) alongside newer projects that investigate the relationship between Saddam Hussein, Iraqi history, the Iraq War and US-Middle East relations. Much like Bilal's broader practice, this publication shows us what it means to consciously engage across cultures while highlighting the negative global implications of imperialism and exploitation. This book was published in conjunction with Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
Artist Tattoos Indelible Iraq Memorial Into His Skin
Lara Pellegrinelli | NPR, All Things considered | June 10, 2010
Wafaa Bilal
NYU Faculty Profile
