Omar Ghayatt, born in Cairo in 1976, has built his artistic path between Egypt and Switzerland, moving with sensitivity between cultures and forms. After completing his Bachelor of Arts in 1996, he received in 2003 Egypt’s first official prize ever awarded for performance art.
His work has since been welcomed by diverse stages and audiences, from the Cairo Opera House to Vooruit in Ghent, Friche Belle de Mai in Marseille, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. He has participated in international festivals such as Zürcher Theater Spektakel, Festival Theaterformen in Hanover, D-CAF in Cairo, and Sélection Suisse en Avignon.
In 2007, Ghayatt arrived in Bern as a Pro Helvetia artist-in-residence, later completing a Master of Scenography at Zurich University of the Arts. Since then, he has continued to develop his practice within Switzerland, supported by the city and canton of Bern, which also awarded him the “OFF-Stage” grant in 2015.
In 2022, his performance Les Passagers was presented at the 29th Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theater, where it was honored with the Jury Prize.
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