After a lengthy period as one of Safarkhan’s most prolific resident artists since 2004, Boghuigian has arguably become Egypt's most internationally-acclaimed contemporary artist.
Anna Boghiguian was born in Cairo in 1946 to Armenian-Egyptian parents. She graduated in 1969 from the American University in Cairo in Economics and Political Science and studied art under the patronage of the Modernist pioneer Fouad Kamel. Boghiguian obtained her BFA in visual arts and music from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, and it was during this time that she lost her hearing. Since then, the ear has been a recurring motif in her work, appearing in turns in its metaphysical, organic, social, and sensory aspects. After a lengthy period as one of Safarkhan’s most prolific resident artists since 2004, Boghiguian has arguably become Egypt's most internationally-acclaimed contemporary artist.
Boghiguian lives an almost nomadic lifestyle, constantly moving between different cities across the globe, from Egypt to Canada and India to France and beyond. She was nominated for the 8th edition of the Artes Mundi award, one of the largest contemporary art prizes in the U.K. Her works have been part of numerous reputable international group exhibitions, including: Centro dos de Mayo, Madrid (2016), Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (2015), Venice Biennale (2015), Istanbul Biennale (2015), New Museum, New York (2014), São Paulo Biennale (2014), Documenta 13, Kasssel (2012). She has held exhibitions beyond Egypt, in Yemen, Greece, Canada and France, and in 2017, she held solo exhibitions at Castello di Rivoli museum of contemporary art in Torino, and the Swedish Contemporary Art Foundation, Stockholm. Boghiguian has also illustrated many books including editions of Ungaretti, Cavafy and for the Egyptian Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz.
Boghiguian’s work resides in the collections of; the MoMA in New York, Guggenheim, Abu Dhabi, The Art Institute of Chicago, Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Torino, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven. Her abstract painting style is characterized by extremely haphazard brushstrokes, an unconventional palette and an obsession with capturing the essence of metropolitan superorganisms, with their constant metamorphosis of movement – like the addictive chaos of Cairo which she grew up amongst. Boghuigian’s travels are a constant source of inspiration for her craft, her entire portfolio is steeped in literature and filled with words borrowed from personal stories or plays, papers, and mythological or historical tales.