Foto: Aimilia A. Theofilopoulos

Omid Arabbay is a German artist with Afghan roots, born in Hamburg. His multidisciplinary practice spans from sculpture and installation, as well as photography, video, and performance. At the center of his work is an engagement with the tensions and contradictions that emerge when cultures collide and merge, shaped by questions of identity and belonging in a world structured by classification and control. Drawing on his personal experiences and the stories of others, his work explores the multiple ways in which identity is shaped by the places we come from and the places we move through. He endeavors to create a visual language that addresses collective and personal trauma shaped by state violence,
displacement, and colonial legacies.
He is currently pursuing a master’s degree at the HFBK Hamburg in the time-based media class of Prof. Kader Attia and the photography class of Prof. Tobias Zielony, where he also completed his bachelor’s studies. Prior to that, he studied at the Leipzig University of Fine Arts in the class of Prof. Annette Kisling and Prof. Torsten Hattenkerl



ON VIEW 
23.01-01.03 "KEEP THEM GUESSING" HFBK Boutique (Hamburg, Germany)
UPCOMING 2026
"A Tale of Guardians and Angels" Frappant Galerie (Hamburg, Germany)
„Gastfreundschaft“ Nachtspeicher 23 (Hamburg, Germany)
EXHIBITIONS (Selection)
2026
“Preview“ Nachtspeicher 23 (Hamburg, Germany)
2025
"Hiscox Kunstpreis 2025" ICAT HFBK (Hamburg, Germany)
"Graduate Show" HFBK (Hamburg, Germany)
"570km, 50 by 70cm" Museum Sztuki (Lodz, Poland)
"As part of a curated evening" Bucerius Kunstforum (Hamburg, Germany)
"On Festivity" ICAT HFBK (Hamburg, Germany)
"How to make a place a place“ Frappant Galerie (Hamburg, Germany)
"Im jetzt tauchen wir auf" EMOP Berlin c/o Akademie der Künste (Berlin, Germany) 
"Annual exhibition" HFBK (Hamburg, Germany)
2024
"The elephant in the room, in the room the elephant" ICAT HFBK (Hamburg, Germany)
"Krise" Kunstvereinhildesheim (Hildesheim, Germany)
"untitled" Lunatic (Lüneburg, Germany)
"we only see what looks at us" ICAT HFBK (Hamburg, Germany)
"Max. 45x36x20“ Goldsmith (London, England)
"Annual exhibition" HFBK (Hamburg, Germany)
2023
"50/50" Kunsthalle-Ost (Leipzig, Germany)
 "Zwischenwelten" (Online Ausstellung /Archiv)
"Thin Walls" Oberbilker Allee (Düsseldorf, Germany)
"About being (in) between" Lunatic (Lüneburg, Germany)
"Transit" Künstlerhaus Frise (Hamburg, Germany)
"Zeit heilt keine Wunden" Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig (Leipzig, Germany) Solo Exhibition. 
"Introspective" Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig (Leipzig, Germany)
2022
"BESSER LEBEN" Besser Leben e.V. (Leipzig, Germany)
"Goda Nott" Idno (Reykjavik, Island)
"(Un)sichtbarkeiten" Kunstsaal Lüneburg (Lüneburg, Germany)
"Beide" Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig (Leipzig, Germany)
2021
 "Selfportrait" P7 Gallery (Berlin, Germany)
2020 
Südwärtsfestival (Hamburg, Germany)
PUBLICATIONS
2025 Materia 3 with the work „Ich schiesse auf den Adler“
2023 Matratzenmagazin with the work "I'm ready to fight on your behalf." 
2023 TRANSIT with the work „FIGHT“
2023 50/50 with the works „Helal Money / Dada promised me a horse/ 30.06.2021“