Lara Baladi

Lara Baladi is an Egyptian-Lebanese multidisciplinary artist, archivist, and Lecturer at MIT’s Program in Art, Culture, and Technology (ACT), School of Architecture + Planning. Her work bridges art, activism, and social movements, focusing on revolutions and their iconography. She co-founded Radio Tahrir and Tahrir Cinema during the 2011 Egyptian uprising, later expanding into the Vox Populi: Tahrir Archives project—an open-source archive mapping global protests.

Education & Roles:

• Artist-in-Residence: Art Omi (2014), MacDowell Colony (2014), MIT/CAST (2015)
• Board Member: Arab Image Foundation, Townhouse Gallery, The Artists’ Sanctum

Research Interests: Baladi explores myths, archives, and socio-political narratives through photography, video, installations, and textiles. Her work critiques authoritarianism and celebrates grassroots movements, such as Don’t Touch Me Tomatoes & Chachacha (2013), a video installation addressing misogyny in counter-revolutionary tactics, and ABC: A Lesson in History (2020), an ABC primer reimagining revolutionary education.

Key Exhibitions:

• Monuments & Flowers (Casa Árabe, Madrid, 2022)
• The Protest and The Recuperation (Columbia University, 2021)
• Dear Truth: Documentary Strategies (Hasselblad Foundation, 2021)

Grants & Awards: Cantabrigia Award (2021), Hundred Heroines Recognition (2020), Grand Nile Award (Cairo Biennale, 2008-09).

Labs & Collaborations: Co-founder of Fenenin el Rehal artist residency (Egypt’s White Desert, 1997). Collaborations include Bokja Design on The River of Life tapestry series (2021) and Ryan Aasen on Anatomy of a Revolution (2020).