Khaled Jarrar

Khaled Jarrar was born in Jenin, Occupied Palestine in 1976. He completed his studies in interior design at Palestine Polytechnic University in 1996. Upon graduating he smuggled himself to work as a carpenter in Nazareth, living as an underground “illegal” worker. In 1998, Jarrar enlisted in an intensive military training which resulted in working for Arafat as a personal body guard until Arafat’s death in 2004, culminating in a 25 year career in the Palestinian Authority’s Presidential Guard. Attempting to create a life between the military and an artistic practice, Jarrar entered the field of photography in 2005. He graduated from the International Academy of Art of Palestine, Ramallah in 2011 and completed an MFA in fine art from the University of Arizona in 2019, where he was the recipient of the 2016 Anni and Heinrich Sussman Award.