Fatima Killeen

I was born in Casablanca, l graduated from Les Beaux Arts in Morocco. From 1988 I studied painting and photography at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington DC and was awarded the Dean's Merit Scholarship. In 1994 I moved to Australia and continued my studies in painting and printmaking at the Canberra School of Art. I graduated with First Class Honours and three graduation awards.

Since 1997 I have taken part in many group and solo exhibitions in Australia, Morocco and Jordan. I was awarded the Wattan Art Prize in 2001. During 2015 and 2016 I was presented with both the ACT and the National African-Australian Awards for Professional Excellence. In 2017 I received the International Honour Award for Moroccan Art & Culture and the Australian Muslim Art Prize in 2021. My art & bio is included in the national commemorative publication 50 Years of Art in Morocco. 

 My artworks are included in the collections of the Australian War Memorial, Australian National University, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Canberra Museum and Gallery, The Canberra Hospital, Islamic Museum of Australia and Latrobe University. My life story and commissioned artworks for the National Museum of Australia were on permanent display in the Australian Journeys exhibition from 2009-2019. Individual artworks have featured on the covers of Human Rights Commission reports and many works reside within private and corporate collections located in Australia and overseas.

I am a painter and a printmaker. Most of my work consists of making installations using painting, printmaking, photography and found objects. The pieces contain a fusion of different types of mediums, anti-war sentiments, along with humanitarian concerns. My heritage as a Moroccan living in Australian conveys the beauty and mystery of the Islamic culture. An in-depth inspection of my work reveals the underlying moral questions where the use of found objects offers an instant connection with the underlying narratives and backgrounds. I am interested in the dialogue that takes place when foreign objects are placed together in the same installation – they provoke ideas, concepts and accessibility to the world I try to translate to the viewer. It is an instantaneous “placement of thoughts”.