Born in Beirut in 1978 and raised between Lebanon and Jordan. Dia Al Batal is a Palestinian artist, who currently lives and works in London. She studied Interior Architecture and Fine Arts in Beirut, before moving to the UK to complete her MA in Design and Critical Practice at Goldsmiths College in London.
Her context specific practice draws on her sociopolitical concerns. She borrows historical aesthetics and mediums; the art of using language and calligraphy in private and public spaces, to create artworks in a contemporary language. She is interested in developing a multidisciplinary approach that seeks to engage audiences in contemporary issues of identity and belonging. Dia employs extracts from Arabic literature and poetry, family archives, contemporary news reports and UN resolutions on human rights, to present a stark contrast between the aesthetic beauty, the poetic forms / compositions, and the brutality of the message.
Dia’s work has been shown in collective and solo exhibitions in Beirut, Amman, Manama, Dubai, Sharjah, Paris, Liverpool and London. Batal has also worked on a number of outreach projects for institutions such as The Metropolitan Museum in New York, The British Museum, V&A Museum, INIVA and The Mosaic Rooms in London where she is currently curating the Family Programme.