Marwan Bassiouni Egyptian, b. 1985

Marwan Bassiouni (b. 1985, Morges, Switzerland) is a Swiss-Egyptian-American artist and photographer. His work explores the intersection of Islamic identity and Western culture through large-scale photographic installations, often structured around views taken from inside mosques looking out onto surrounding landscapes. Using carefully composed, frontal images in which interior and exterior spaces appear visually compressed, his photographs examine questions of perspective, belonging and representation, and reflect on how Muslim identity exists within Western environments. He holds a BA in Photography from the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague (KABK), and a photographer CFC from the Photography School of Vevey (CEPV).

His notable series New Dutch Views (2018–2019) features photographs taken from inside mosques in the Netherlands, capturing the view through their windows towards the surrounding landscape. The project challenges Western perceptions of Islam by presenting mosques as integral parts of the European environment. His photographs are characterised by the use of natural lighting and digital techniques to represent both interior and exterior space with equal clarity, often combining references to Islamic artistic traditions with contemporary photography. Since 2021, Bassiouni has expanded this body of work into the wider long-term project New Western Views, which includes photographs made in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Canada and the United States of America, continuing his exploration of landscape, architecture and cultural identity.

His work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Akku, Emmen, Switzerland (2024); the Grote Kerk Alkmaar, Netherlands (2024); International Center of Photography, New York, USA (2024); Kunstmuseum Den Haag, Netherlands (2024); Kunsthaus Zürich, Switzerland (2023); Dürst Britt & Mayhew, The Hague, Netherlands (2023); Halle Nord, Geneva, Switzerland (2023); Museum Schloss Moyland, Germany (2023); Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation, Germany (2023); Art Düsseldorf, Germany (2023); Workplace gallery, London, UK (2022); Foam, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2022); Shanghai Center of Photography, China (2022); Z33, Hasselt, Belgium (2022); Biel/Bienne Festival of Photography, Switzerland (2021); Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam, Netherlands (2020); Festival Circulation(s), Paris, France (2020); Cultuurhuis De Warande, Turnhout, Belgium (2020); the Photography Museum of The Hague, Netherlands (2019); Fotostiftung Schweiz, Winterthur, Switzerland (2019); Unseen Photo Fair, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2019); Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece (2019); Kunsthal Helmond, Netherlands (2019), among others.

In 2019 he had a solo exhibition at the Hague Museum of Photography and published his first photobook New Dutch Views (Lecturis). In 2024 he published his second title New Swiss Views (The Eriskay Connection).

Bassiouni’s work has been written about in publications including The New Yorker, Artforum, British Journal of Photography, Aperture, FOAM, LensCulture, EXIT Imagen y Cultura and ZEITmagazin. He is the recipient of the W. Eugene Smith Student Grant, the Harry Pennings Prize and the Prix Circulation(s)-Fujifilm. His book New Dutch Views was a finalist for the Aperture First Book Award at Paris Photo. Since 2020 his work has been supported by the Mondriaan Fund, and he has received grants from the fund in 2020, 2022 and 2024.

His work is included in public and private collections including Kunsthaus Zürich; Kunstmuseum Bern; Nederlands Fotomuseum; Kunstmuseum Den Haag; and the International Center of Photography, New York.

Bassiouni lives and works in the Netherlands.