BIO
Hala is an Iraqi-Canadian interdisciplinary artist and filmmaker with a strong background in journalism. Her research-creation practice involves questioning gender relations, political power and history-making through collage, ceramics and video. Her narrative film work has been screened at festivals across the world including Busan International Film Festival, Cairo Film Festival and the Newport Beach Film Festival.
Hala graduated from OCAD University with an SSHRC-funded MFA in 2024. Her interdisciplinary thesis "Remember the Future: Oneiric Artifacts from Mesopotamia" combines cinema and ceramics and proposes dreaming as a methodology for excavating possible futures. This work will be part of L'air est lourd, a group exhibition at Art Windsor-Essex in 2026.
Hala acknowledges the privilege of growing up on Turtle Island, where indigenous people have been subjected to the same colonial powers that occupied and still interfere with her own motherland.
contact: halaalsalman@ocadu.ca
CV
EDUCATION
2024 MFA Interdisciplinary Arts, Media and Design, OCAD University
2020 Certificate: Introduction to Psychology, Yale University
2002 BA Communication Studies, Minor in Political Science, Concordia University
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Remember the Future: Oneiric Artifacts from Mesopotamia, The Graduate Gallery, OCAD University, Toronto, CA
2022 "Haifa Street", Babylon International Festival, Babylon, IQ
2020 "Haifa Street", Cairo International Film Festival, Cairo, EG
2020 "Haifa Street", Busan International Film Festival, Busan, KR
2012 "Bêtes Humaines", Newport Beach International Film Festival, US
2012 "Bêtes Humaines", Rendez-Vous du Cinema Québecois, Montreal, CA
2010 "PHATWA", Off The Hook Boutique, Montreal, CA
GROUP SHOWS
2026 L'ai est lourd curated by Cassandra Lesage Fongué, Art Windsor-Essex, Windsor, ON, CA (upcoming)
2025 Root Unseen, feat. “The Rod and The Ring”, CICA Museum, Gimpo, KR
2025 Toronto New Works, feat. “The Rod and The Ring”, Pleasure Dome, Toronto, CA
2024 Salasil Film Club curated by Salasil Studio, feat. “The Rod and The Ring,” Alserkal Art Foundation, Dubai, AE
Sep 2024 Expressions of Critical Thought curated by Carousel Collective, Aurora Cultural Center, Aurora, CA
June 2023 The Aliens Aren't Coming, OCAD University, Toronto, CA
2023 Too Big To Fail curated by Hala and Deepikah RB, OCAD University, Toronto, CA
2022 The Incomplete, OCAD University, Toronto, CA
2004 Iraq War Exhibit, Fivegreen Boutique, Dubai, AE
FILM FESTIVAL WORKSHOPS
2018 Venice Biennial - Venice Production Bridge
2017 Carthage Film Festival - Producers Network
2017 Tribeca Film Festival - TFI Network
2016 Doha Film Institute - Qumra
AWARDS
2025 Research-Creation Grant for "Militant Archeology," Canada Council for the Arts
2024 Travel Grant for "The Rod and The Ring," OCAD University
2023 Graduate Studies First Year Award, OCAD University
2022 Canada Graduate Scholarship, Masters, SSHRC
2018 Post Production Fund for "Haifa Street," Doha Film Institute
2010 Production Award for "Bêtes Humaines," Le Fonds TV5
2009 Production Grant for "PHATWA," CALQ / Vivacité
TALKS / PANELS
2025 Dreams of Anti-Colonial and Collective Futures Within Creative Practices, Art, and Academia, UAAC 2025, York University, Toronto, CA
2025 The Rod and The Ring: Remember the Future and What It Could Bring, Maktaba Bookshop, Montreal, CA
PUBLICATIONS / PRESS
Featured in: Carnation Zine, Vol. 3 (Fire), Sep 2024
Interview: This Art Show is Too Big To Fail by Chris Dart, CBC Arts, Apr 2023
Featured in: Kabreet: A Melancholic Nod to Romance, My Kali Magazine, Dec 2020