Lina Hashim

Lina Hashim (b. 1978, Kuwait) lives and works in Copenhagen. Working across photography, performance, and installation, she explores the tensions between Islamic traditions, Western culture, and female identity. With a background in anthropology and early schooling in Islam, Hashim’s practice is shaped by her personal history as a Danish-Iraqi woman navigating conflicting cultural frameworks.

Her work often deals with what is hidden—rituals, desires, and taboos—particularly within Muslim communities. Through intimate and investigative approaches, she reveals the complex realities of women’s lives, caught between religious expectations and secular freedoms. Her breakthrough piece The Touch (2020) combined performance, installation, and storytelling to depict a spiritual exorcism she underwent, challenging both religious norms and artistic conventions.

Hashim’s photographic series, including Without Wind (2012) and Unlawful Meetings (2014), document veiled aspects of Muslim life—hair untouched by sunlight, or secret romantic encounters—blending documentary realism with conceptual framing. Her works raise questions about visibility, control, and the gaze, particularly as they relate to the representation of Muslim women in both art and society.

Hashim graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 2020. She has exhibited at venues including Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Nikolaj Kunsthal, and the Norton Museum of Art. In 2020, she received the 15 June Foundation’s Honorary Award and has been nominated for international prizes such as the Rudin Prize and the Foam Paul Huf Award.