Asma Ghanem was born in Damascus, Syria, in 1991. She received her BA from the International Academy of Art – Palestine and received her MFA degree in audio-visual arts from the ISDAT (L’École des beaux-arts de Toulouse) in France in 2016. Ghanem was awarded the 3rd prize in the Young Artist of the Year Award 2016 competition for her experimental music project (Homeland is…). She was also awarded a special mention in the Palestine In & Out Festival in Paris in 2015 for a photography project. Asma received two grants from the Arab Fund for Art and Culture (AFAC) and produced the first experimental album titled “Fi Alard” in 2014 as a result as well as a book on music theories in Palestine (under production).
Asma Ghanem is an electronic musician and sound artist whose eclectic compositions utilize children’s toys, electronic synthesizers, and urban field recordings. Her pieces are often accompanied by experimental visual scores that speak to Asma’s training as a fine artist. Growing up in a refugee family, Asma loved music but was unable to study formally due to the prohibitive cost of education and the constant threat of relocation. While pursuing a degree in visual arts from the International Academy of Art in Palestine, she began to realize her passion for sound. Much of Asma’s work speaks directly to the violence and political turmoil she has witnessed while living in the disputed Palestinian Territories while simultaneously exploring the juxtaposition of the issues in everyday life: gender, romance, humor, and mental illness. Asma has participated in exhibitions, residencies, and workshops throughout Europe, the Middle East, and the U.S. and was recently awarded third prize in YAYA 2016 for her experimental music project, “Homeland is.”