Aissa Deebi is a Palestinian artist and scholar based in Geneva. His early work investigated the complexity of daily practices in post-1948 Palestine: Days Like This (1997); Makkan (1998); My Dream House (1999); Nothing is New Only Forgotten (2000). Following this, Deebi tackled the theme of immigration and alienation, which culminated in his Ph.D. research, providing a critical analysis of the Diaspora as a creative space. In tandem with his scholarly work, Deebi produced a body of works that interrogate the complex phenomena of cultural migration and Diaspora reality as experienced by an adult Palestinian-immigrant artist in post-Sept 11 America: Killing Time (2004); Naked Heroes (2003); Dead Sweet (2004) and more recently Tal El Samak (2011). Deebi represented Palestine at the 55th Venice Biennale and is currently working on projects for the 5th Edition of the Çanakkale Biennial in Turkey and the Colombo Biennale in Sri Lanka.

Aissa Deebi has held several leadership positions teaching art and design at several institutions including Winchester School of Art, the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom; Centro de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey Design, Mexico, and Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok Thailand.

In 2010, Deebi joined the American University of Cairo’s Arts Department as a Professor of Art and Design, teaching in the areas of studio arts, design practice, theory, and photography. In 2011 he was appointed as the Director of the Visual Cultures Program, which includes the visual arts-film and graphic design majors. In addition, Deebi was the director of the Sharjah Art Gallery at AUC. Between 2013-2016, Deebi was the chair of the Department of Art & Design at Montclair State University, Associate Professor in Art and Design. Currently, Deebi remains an Associate Professor of Art and Design on leave at Montclair State University.

Aissa Deebi is also a consultant for the Birzeit University’s Museum in Palestine, and the curator of Mizna, the Arab American Art and Literature Magazine in Minneapolis, USA. His work has been exhibited globally including The 55 Venice Biennale, Çanakkale Biennale, Turkey; Art Lab Gnesta, Sweden; Berlin Art Laboratory, Germany; Art Space Gallery at Sang Myung University, Seoul, Korea; Darb 1718, Cairo, Egypt; Kunstverein, Germany; The Queens Museum of Art in New York; Haus am Lutzowplatz in Berlin; Tanit Art Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon; Beirut Art Fair, Lebanon; Asia-Pacific Triennial, Taipei in Taiwan; VCU Art Gallery, Doha; Elga Wimmer Gallery, New York; Art Dubai; Al Hosh for Palestinian Art, and Birzeit University Museum, Palestine.