Charif Benhelima

Charif Benhelima lives and works in Bruges. He studied at the LUCA School of Arts in Brussels, the HISK (Higher Institute of Fine Arts) in Antwerp and the ICP (International Center of Photography) in New York. Identity, memory, documentation and truth are crucial themes in his work. A signature element of Benhelima’s style is his use of a Polaroid 600 camera. His long-term aesthetic and conceptual investigations combine to form a unique body of work. For Welcome to Belgium (1990–1999), he spent nine years researching displacement and migration. His other projects include Harlem on my Mind - I Was, I Am (1999–2022), Semites (2003–2005), The Allochtoon (2011–2013), Ubiquitas (2014–2017) and Borderline (2016–2024). Benhelima also curated the exhibition Zonder Titel [Untitled] (2007) at M HKA in Antwerp, and in 2008 he was nominated for the Robert Gardner Fellowship in Photography from Harvard University’s Peabody Museum (Cambridge, US) for his entire oeuvre. His work is represented in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, M HKA in Antwerp and BPS22 in Charleroi, among others.