LIBYAN artist and ceramicist Hadia Gana if one of about 30 artists from the Mediterranean region are currently participating in one of the leading art events in the world, the 25th Alexandria Biennale for Mediterranean countries, in Egypt that opened on December 17 and will last until the end of January.

In the beginning this important event was targeted each of its editions to travel in a different Mediterranean country until it was finally settled to always organise it in the city of Alexandria for its historical heritage as the old capital of Egypt in ancient times.

The first edition of Alexandria Biennial, entitled 'The First Biennial for the Arts of Mediterranean Countries' was inaugurated on July 26, 1955 at the Alexandria Museum of Fine Arts where it is still based.

The aim of the Alexandria Biennial is to fortify the cultural and artistic dialogue not only between Egypt and its neighbouring Mediterranean countries but to extend it all over the world as well. This year, the Alexandria Biennial is aimed at being a panoramic view of the latest in artistic creativity coming from our region.

For the first time at this Biennale, the artists' selection is entirely decided by the curator and not through countries' nominations like in former editions.

Mohamed Abouelnaga has selected 31 artists from the Mediterranean region and proposed for the exhibition the theme ‘THE AFTERMATH, in the sense of “What’s next” facing the latest crises and economic collapses.

Libya’s representative at the Alexandria Biennale, Hadia Gana, is a young and talented Libyan Artist, specialised in Ceramics. Born in 1973, Hadia studied at the Faculty of Arts at the Al-Fateh University and graduated with a BA in Cermamics and Glass in 1995. She continued with her passion and studies and in 2005 got her Master's degree from the UK.

Hadia also studied and took other art courses in Libya and France, including courses in metal casting, sand and wax moulding

She exhibited her work in various venues inside and outside Libya, including Tripoli, Naloot, Malta and France and made a name for herself for her good and professional work, and her continuous developments and her style changes.

Others participating in the Biennale include:
Venera Kastrati (Albania)
Sanja Ivekovic and Neven Bilic (Croatia)
Abla-Rashed-Naem, Wael Shawki and Hazem Taha (Egypt)
Juien Maire (France)
Gagas Sarantis and Pawlos Nikolakopoulos (Greece)
Alessandro Scarabello and Giuseppe Moscatello (Italy)
Doris Bittar and Walid Raad (Lebanon)
Norbert Attard (Malta)
Amina Benbouchta, Safa Erruas and Lalla Essaydi (Morocco)
Tayseer Barakat and Khaled Hourani (Palestine)
Nika Oblak and Primoz Novak (Slovenia)
Romulo Royo and Valeriano Lopez (Spain)
Ammar Al-Beik, Thaier Helal and Khaled Takreti (Syria)
Nadia Kaabi Linke and Nicene Kossentini (Tunisia)
Fikret Atay and Inci Eviner (Turkey)