Abdulrahman Katanani was born in 1983 in Sabra refugee camp in Beirut. His lived experience of displacement and collective struggle informs his artistic practice. Katanani is widely known for sculptural installations that employ found and industrial materials, most notably barbed wire, wood, metal, and everyday objects sourced from his surroundings..
Katanani explores themes of exile, resistance, and resilience, while also addressing moments of intimacy, play, and life as a refugee. His works frequently depict figures, animals, and domestic scenes, reconfiguring symbols of oppression into gestures of tenderness and resistance. The transformation of barbed wire into fluid, figurative forms becomes both a political and poetic act, asserting presence and agency in the face of erasure.
Katanani has exhibited widely in the Arab world and internationally, participating in major exhibitions, biennales, and institutional shows. His work is held in several public and private collections. Through a practice rooted in material, memory, and lived reality, Katanani articulates a visual language that speaks to the enduring condition of displacement while affirming the dignity and persistence of everyday life.