UK New Artists in conversation with Habib Hajallie

Habib Hajallie was named as the winner of the Robert Walters Group UK New Artist of the Year Award at an awards ceremony held at the prestigious Saatchi Gallery on Thursday 10 November 2022, and he is also a recipient of the Samuel Ross Black British Artist Grant 2022.

During this online talk, Habib will talk about his creative practice, his work with UK New Artist and winning the Robert Walters Group UK New Artist of the Year Award. Habib will also be sharing his top tips for new, emerging artists that he has learnt on his journey.

Habib seeks to empower often marginalised minorities through the exploration of identity within his ballpoint pen portraiture. Confronting socio-political issues within his drawings acts as a catalyst for a discourse regarding the perception of various demographics as being of lesser humanistic value. Specifically, with the disenfranchised often being undermined by mainstream media; somewhat paradoxically reflecting an archaic hierarchy of status, similar to colonial ideologies. Habib’s practice is informed by his Sierra Leonean and Lebanese heritage, in the representation of figures that have been left-out of traditional British Portraiture, he works to investigate how identity can be reconstructed by historical oppression.

Find out more about Habib’s work here.