Nora Sayyad is a Finnish-Palestinian visual artist and documentary photographer, born in Sweden and based in Helsinki. Her practice moves between documentary, poetic and conceptual approaches, exploring the politics of looking, questions of representation, and how photography can become a space for memory, dialogue and self-determination. Drawing from personal and collective histories, her work examines connection, belonging and lived experience in relation to wider social and political realities.

Her work has been exhibited internationally, including as part of The Lost Paintings: A Prelude to Return, and presented at institutions including the Helsinki City Museum, the Finnish Museum of Photography and HIAP. Her photographs have been published by Finnish and international media including The Washington Post and The Times. Her work is held in the public collections of the Migration Institute of Finland, the Finnish Heritage Agency and the National Library of Finland.

Alongside her artistic practice, she works across visual reporting, teaching, writing, public speaking, and artivism, and has collaborated with organisations including Plan International Finland. In 2021, she was assistant curator of the award-winning No Justice, No Peace, which received Gold at Vuoden Huiput and a Special Books honour in Finland’s Most Beautiful Books.

EDUCATION

2022 Master of Arts in Photography and Film, Aalto University School of Art, Design and Architecture, Finland
2017 Bachelor of Culture and Arts in Photography, Novia University of Applied Sciences, Finland

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2025–2026 From Arrival to Belonging: A Decade in Portraits, in collaboration with Startup Refugees, IKEA; STOA; Valkea; Revontuli, Finland
2025 Untitled: Palestine (working title / ongoing work), Pop-up HIAP, Helsinki, Finland
2024 Tervetuloa, tervemenoa: Suomi muuttoliikkeessä, in collaboration with the Migration Institute of Finland, University of Lapland; University of Eastern Finland; University of Turku; Tampere University; University of Jyväskylä; University of Helsinki; Turku City Library, Finland
2022 Wired This Way, STOA Cultural Center, Helsinki, Finland
2021 Voimanaisia, in collaboration with PLAN International Finland, Vuotalo & Maunula House, Helsinki, Finland
2017 Finding Forgiveness, Logomo and The Finnish Association for Abducted Children, Finland
2015 Hour of Your Reality, Book Café, Turku, Finland

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2025–2026 The Lost Paintings: A Prelude to Return, Articule; MAI – Montréal, arts interculturels; Unbound Visual Arts; The MAC; P21 Gallery; Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, Canada, US, Northern Ireland, UK
2025 Förkolnade Minnen / Muistoihin Hiiltyneet, Näse Gård, Porvoo, Finland
2023 Being Black – poimintoja afrosuomalaisuudesta, Helsinki City Museum, Helsinki, Finland
2020 Unfold, The Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland
2019 Finding Forgiveness, Frauen Museum, Wiesbaden, Germany
2018 Islam and I, Migration Institute of Finland, Turku, Finland
2017 Movement, Kaapelitehdas / Valssaamo, Helsinki, Finland
2017 Matkalla / På Väg, Art Gallery, Vaasa, Finland

SELECTED AWARDS, RESIDENCIES

2025 The Lost Paintings Residency, Boston, US
2025 UrbanApa Miniresidencies / HIAP – Helsinki International Artist Programme, Finland
2025 Summer Well: Art and Activism, Saari Residence, Kone Foundation, Finland
2021 No Justice, No Peace, Vuoden Huiput, Gold, Jokerit category, Finland. Assistant Curator
2021 No Justice, No Peace, Most Beautiful Books / Kauneimmat kirjat, Special Books category, Finland. Assistant Curator
2019 Jouko Lehtola Foundation & The Finnish Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia

PUBLIC SPEAKING / TEACHING / ART JURY

2017 - Selected lectures, talks, teaching and jury work at PLAN International Finland, STOA Cultural Center, Espoo School of Art, Yle Kultur, Migration Institute of Finland, Nordic Migration Research, FemF, Tutkijaliitto, Titanik, UrbanApa, ANTI Festival and Finnish Photojournalists

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Migration Institute of Finland
The Finnish Heritage Agency
The National Library of Finland

MEMBERSHIPS

Women Photograph, US
Association of Photographic Artists, Finland
GAP Creatives Database
Kuvasto ry

SELECTED PHOTOGRAPHIC FEATURES IN MEDIA AND COMMERCIAL CONTEXTS

The Washington Post, The Times and The Sunday Times, Kone Foundation, Plan International Finland, Finnish Museum of Photography, Hufvudstadsbladet, Ruskeat Tytöt, Helsingin Sanomat, University of Helsinki, City of Helsinki, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland (TEM), Lännen Media, Migration Institute of Finland, Nordic Migration Research, University of Helsinki Alumni Association, ELY Centres (Finland), Central Union for Child Welfare of Finland, Nordic Culture Point, Startup Refugees, Refugee Film Festival Helsinki, New Theatre Helsinki, Concurrences, Kamera-lehti, Tulva-lehti, Helsinki-lehti, Sons of Lumière Film Production, I-Mediat Oy, Kamua Helsinki, Selkomedia, Psykologilehti, LensCulture, Yle, STT, Akimbo, Mustekala, Voima, Tulva-lehti, and various photography commissions

SELECTED PRESS

The Lost Paintings: A Prelude to Return, Brookline Arts Center
The Lost Paintings at articule and MAI, Montreal, Akimbo
Podcast: Parfyymin tuulahdus, Ruskeat tytöt
#BLACKLIVESMATTERFINLAND: Documented, Ruskeat tytöt
#FREEPALESTINE: Documented, Ruskeat tytöt
NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE: Documents of the Black Lives Matter Demonstrations Finland 2020, Vuoden huiput
Äitien ja tyttärien vahva side, Plan International
The coronavirus pandemic through the lenses of young people, Stoa