Ruth Beraha

Ruth Beraha’s artistic practice examines the fragile boundaries that define fear, identity, and our systems of perception. Working across sculpture, installation, sound, and drawing, Beraha constructs environments that destabilize the viewer’s sense of safety and certainty, inviting a reconsideration of how we relate to what we perceive as Other. Her works often operate through subtle tension: what appears familiar becomes unsettling, and what seems threatening reveals unexpected vulnerability.

Central to her practice is an exploration of how narratives—historical, political, personal—shape the way we look at bodies, symbols, and spaces. Beraha employs materials such as ceramic, metal, and immersive audio to give form to these often invisible forces. The quiet precision of her sculptures contrasts with the emotional and psychological unease they evoke, creating encounters that are intimate yet disorienting. Many of her installations focus on the gaze: who is looking, who is watched, and how power flows through this exchange.

Beraha’s work frequently investigates mechanisms of exclusion and belonging. By amplifying moments of uncertainty, she draws attention to the ways fear is produced, circulated, and embedded within collective memory. Rather than offering resolutions, her installations open up questions—encouraging viewers to linger within ambiguity and confront the assumptions that govern their own interpretations.

Ruth Beraha ( b. 1986, Milan, IT) is a multidisciplinary artist currently living and working in Bologna, IT. She has received a BA in Art History from Milan State University and an MA in Visual Studies from NABA, Milan, in 2014. Her work has recently been exhibited at Kaunas Biennal; Fondazione Pastificio Cerere, Roma; Kunstverein, Ludwigdshafen; IIC Oslo; Triennale, Milan; Biennale Gherdëina 9, Fondazione Trussardi; XXVII Gubbio Biennale; Straperetana; MAXXI Museum, Rome; GAMec, Bergamo; MACRO Museum, Rome; Trafo, Szczecin; Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin; Mimosa House, London; MUFOCO, Cinisello Balsamo; Museo della città, Livorno; Arte in Memoria Biennal of Contemporary Art, Rome; MAMbo Museum, Bologna; Ca' Rezzonico Museum, Venice; Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan.
In 2022 she has been a recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant. In 2025 she won the Matteo Visconti di Modrone prize, in 2023 she won the Conai Prize; in 2020 she won the New York Prize and has been Associate Research Scholar, Columbia University, New York (2020-2022). She has been artist in residence at Living Room, Valle Grana (2025); ISCP, Brooklyn, New York (2020-2022); Nuovo Forno del Pane, MAMbo, Bologna (2020-21); Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Venice (2017-18).