Aya Abu Hawash (b. 1993, Lebanon) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans painting, mixed media, and archival research. She holds an MFA from Université Libanaise – Institut des Beaux-Arts (2016) and is currently completing her MFA at École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Aya is part of the Cité des Arts residency in Paris.

Aya's work explores intimacy as a fluid and complex force shaped by political and cultural realities, particularly within the contexts of war, migration, and displacement. Her practice resists romanticizing pain and suffering, focusing instead on how intimacy functions as both a means of survival and resistance in volatile conditions. Through hidden archives and images, she investigates the contrast between intimacy and brutality, examining how human connections persist under crisis and how these emotions exist side by side. Aya also explores the function of intimacy in Arab culture, how it is politicized, and how external forces such as Orientalism and capitalism shape relationships.

Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at Palais des Beaux-Arts (Paris), Universität der Künste (Berlin), and Galerie Janine Rubeiz (Beirut). Aya will further develop her research “Archives of desire” during her upcoming residency at La Chartreuse de Villeneuve-lès-Avignon as part of the Odyssée programme in Spring 2025.