Dawit L. Petros is a visual artist, researcher and educator who examines the intertwined and multiple narratives of African and European colonialism and modernity.

2025 Biennial Year Find out more

He draws from his study of history to engage with effects of displaced or forgotten histories. Petros conducts extensive research and travel to inform production across materials and mediums, including photography, sculpture, screen prints, video, performance and sound. His sensitivity to political engagement is fused with aesthetic language that pays keen attention to color and abstraction, reflecting Petros’ long-standing preoccupation with traditions of minimalist sculpture and conceptual artmaking. This enables Petros to engage in a metaphorical dialogue with contemporary issues of displacement and place-making that challenge traditional forms of narrative representation associated with documentary imaging.

Petros completed the Whitney Independent Study Program, an MFA in Visual Art from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Tufts University; a BFA in Photography from Concordia University; and a BA in History from the University of Saskatchewan. Recent national and international venues that have exhibited his work include Haus der Kunst, Munich; Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort; Wereld Museum, Rotterdam; Tate Modern, London; KØS Museum for Art in Public Space, Nørregade, Køge; Ozangé Spanish Biennial of African Photography, Malaga; Oslo Kunstforening, Oslo; Huis Marseille Museum of Photography, Amsterdam; The Studio Museum in Harlem, NYC; The National Museum of African Art in Washington, DC; and the Bamako Biennale in Mali.

Petros has been recognized with numerous accolades, such as The Terra Foundation for American Art Research Fellow, a Fulbright Fellowship, the Paul De Hueck and Norman Walford Career Achievement Award in Art Photography, an Art Matters Fellowship, and Artist Residencies at The Studio Museum in Harlem, The McColl Center for Visual Art, and Addis Ababa Photo Fest.

Dawit L. Petros is represented by Tiwani Contemporary in London, UK, and Bradley Ertaskiran in Montreal, Canada.

 

Upcoming exhibitions:

A World in Common, C/O Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 2025

From the Edge of the Horizon, Remai Modern, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, 2025

Prospetto a Mare, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, Il, USA, 2024

Points of Resonance, The Africa Center, NYC, NY, USA, 2024

Ekphrasis, Tiwani Contemporary, Lagos, Nigeria, 2024