Dawit L. Petros

Dawit L. Petros’ practice is largely informed by studies of global modernisms, theories of diaspora, and postcolonial theory. Throughout the past decade, he has focused on a critical re-reading of the entanglements between colonialism and modernity. These concerns derive from lived experiences– Petros is an Eritrean immigrant who spent formative years in Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Kenya before settling in Canada. The overlapping cultures, perspectives, and tenets of this constellation produced a dispersed consciousness which is transnational in stance and outlook. Petros’ works aim for an introspective analysis of the historical factors that produced these migratory conditions, as well as articulating the fluidity of contemporary transnational experiences and attendant issues of displacement, place-making, and cultural negotiation. Petros instals photographs, moving images, sculptural objects, and sound work according to performative, painterly, or site-responsive logics. Moving between the works echoes the extensive travel taken to produce them; while recurrent visual or formal devices quietly indicate the complex backdrops against which his projects are set.

Dawit L. Petros (b. 1972, Eritrea)

lives and works in Montreal and New Hampshire. He holds an MFA in Visual Art from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts of Tufts University (Boston), a BFA in Photography from Concordia University (Montreal), and a BA in History from the University of Saskatchewan (Saskatoon). Petros was a fellow at the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program. His work has been exhibited in institutions such as the Tate Modern (London), Haus der Kunst (Munich),  Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto), Huis Marseille Museum (Amsterdam), the Museum of Contemporary Photography (Chicago), the National Museum of African Art (Washington), the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), The Power Plant (Toronto), Bradley Ertaskiran (Montreal), and Tiwani Contemporary (London). Upcoming presentations include the 2025 Liverpool Biennial and a survey at Remai Modern (Saskatoon). His works are also collected by various corporate and institutional collections, namely the Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto), Yale University (New Haven), the Museum of Contemporary Photography (Chicago), the Studio Museum (Harlem), the Museum of Fine Arts (Houston), Global Affairs Canada (Ottawa), Mana Contemporary (Jersey City), the Chrysler Museum of Art (Norfolk), the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, and the Collection de la Caisse de Dépôt et de Placement du Québec. He is the recipient of the Terra Foundation for American Art Research Fellowship (2021-23), the Paul de Hueck and Norman Walford Career Achievement Award in Photography (2021), the Duke and Duchess of York Prize in Photography (2021), and a finalist in the Norval Sovereign African Art Prize (2022), as well as the recipient of the Scotiabank Photography Award (2025).

Born in 1972 in Asmara, Eritrea

Lives and works in Montreal, QC & Chicago, USA