Marwan Bassiouni (b. 1985, Morges, Switzerland) is a Swiss-Egyptian-American artist and photographer currently based in the Netherlands. His work explores the intersection of Islamic identity and Western culture, often through contemplative, large-scale photographic installations.
His notable series, New Dutch Views (2018-2019), features photographs taken from inside Dutch mosques, capturing the view through their windows to the outside landscapes. This project aims to challenge Western perceptions of Islam by presenting mosques as integral parts of the European landscape. His photographs are characterized by the use of natural lighting and digital techniques to authentically represent the scenes, often blending Islamic artistic principles with contemporary photography. Since 2021, Bassiouni has expanded his series to include other Western countries under the wider long-term project titled New Western Views. This body of work currently includes material produced in the UK, Switzerland, Canada and the United States of America.
Bassiouni's work is included in international private and permanent collections of institutions such as the Kunsthaus of Zurich (Switzerland), Kunstmuseum Bern (Switzerland), the Netherlands Photo Museum, Kunstmuseum Den Haag (Netherlands) and the International Center of Photography in New York (USA).
Marwan holds a BA in photography from The Royal Academy of Art (KABK) and a photographer CFC from the Photography School of Vevey (CEPV). His work has been written about in publications such as the British Journal of Photography, The New Yorker, Artforum, EXIT Imagen Y Cultura, Lens culture, Aperture, ZEITmagazin and FOAM. In 2019, Marwan had a solo exhibition at the Hague Museum of Photography and published hist first photo book New Dutch Views (Lecturis). In 2024, he published his second title New Swiss Views (The Sand Station).
His work has been exhibited at The Photography Museum of the Hague (NL), The Netherlands photo Museum (NL), Kunsthaus Zurich (CH), The International Center of Photography (USA), Fotostiftung Schweiz (CH), Foam (NL), Museum Schloss Moyland (DE), The Deutsche Boerse Photography Foundation (DE), Kunstmuseum The Hague (NL), The Shanghai Center of Photography (CHN), Unseen Photofair (NL), Art Duesseldorf (DE), The Benaki Museum (GR), Festival Circulation (s) (FR), Kunsthal Helmond (NL), Bienne Festival of Photography (CH), Z33 (BE) and Cultuurhuis De Warande (BE) among others.
Bassiouni is the recipient of the W. Eugene Smith Student Grant, the Harry Pennings Prize, the Prix Circulation(s)-Fujifilm and several other awards and nominations. His book New Dutch Views was a finalist for the Aperture First Book Award at Paris Photo. Since 2020, his work has generously been supported by the Mondriaan Funds and Bassiouni has been awarded grants from the Mondriaan Funds in 2020, 2022 and 2024.