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Shadi Habib Allah

Shadi Habib Allah’s (b. 1977, Jerusalem) practice engages with informal trade circuits, focusing on the global phenomenon of communities that calibrate their needs and realities to financial standards imposed by government infrastructures. Relying on encounters within the communities he probes, Habib Allah reveals unexpected and intimate details of these (sub)cultures through videos, installations and sculpture.

Dropping the 10th Digit (2018) documents ledgers kept by shopkeepers to account for the cash and non-redeemable items exchanged for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) credit in Liberty City, Miami. This government programme provides low- and no-income American citizens access to food through a small monthly budget for groceries. In the state of Florida, the payments are deposited once a month into an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card. Habib Allah became acquainted with the owners of several convenience stores. Once the sole source of consumable goods, these businesses had suffered a loss of income following the arrival of large chain stores in the area. Habib Allah’s work describes the daily transactions that see food stamps exchanged for cash, with a fifty percent charge for each transaction. According to this (unofficial) system, the beneficiaries receive cash or other non-redeemable items, and the storeowners keep the card for seven or ten days, charging it in sums that correspond to merchandise.

Artworks

  1. Shadi Habib Allah, ‘Dropping the 10th Digit’, 2018. Caisson lumineux, tirage photographique sur Duratrans. 50,8 x 34 x 12,7 cm. Collection Mudam Luxembourg. Acquisition 2022 © Courtesy de l’artiste et Reena Spaulings Fine Art, NY/LA / Photo : Useful Art Services
    Shadi Habib Allah Dropping the 10th Digit, 2018

    Caisson lumineux, tirage photographique sur Duratrans
    50,8 x 34 x 12,7 cm
    Collection Mudam Luxembourg
    Acquisition 2022
    © Courtesy de l’artiste et Reena Spaulings Fine Art, NY/LA / Photo : Useful Art Services

  1. Shadi Habib Allah, ‘Dropping the 10th Digit’, 2018. Caisson lumineux, tirage photographique sur Duratrans. 50,8 x 34 x 12,7 cm. Collection Mudam Luxembourg. Acquisition 2022 © Courtesy de l’artiste et Reena Spaulings Fine Art, NY/LA / Photo : Useful Art Services
    Shadi Habib Allah Dropping the 10th Digit, 2018

    Caisson lumineux, tirage photographique sur Duratrans
    50,8 x 34 x 12,7 cm
    Collection Mudam Luxembourg
    Acquisition 2022
    © Courtesy de l’artiste et Reena Spaulings Fine Art, NY/LA / Photo : Useful Art Services

  1. Shadi Habib Allah, ‘Dropping the 10th Digit’, 2018. Caisson lumineux, tirage photographique sur Duratrans. 50,8 x 34 x 12,7 cm. Collection Mudam Luxembourg. Acquisition 2022 © Courtesy de l’artiste et Reena Spaulings Fine Art, NY/LA / Photo : Useful Art Services
    Shadi Habib Allah Dropping the 10th Digit, 2018

    Caisson lumineux, tirage photographique sur Duratrans
    50,8 x 34 x 12,7 cm
    Collection Mudam Luxembourg
    Acquisition 2022
    © Courtesy de l’artiste et Reena Spaulings Fine Art, NY/LA / Photo : Useful Art Services

  1. Shadi Habib Allah, ‘Dropping the 10th Digit’, 2018. Caisson lumineux, tirage photographique sur Duratrans. 50,8 x 34 x 12,7 cm. Collection Mudam Luxembourg. Acquisition 2022 © Courtesy de l’artiste et Reena Spaulings Fine Art, NY/LA / Photo : Useful Art Services
    Shadi Habib Allah Dropping the 10th Digit, 2018

    Caisson lumineux, tirage photographique sur Duratrans
    50,8 x 34 x 12,7 cm
    Collection Mudam Luxembourg
    Acquisition 2022
    © Courtesy de l’artiste et Reena Spaulings Fine Art, NY/LA / Photo : Useful Art Services

  1. Shadi Habib Allah, ‘Dropping the 10th Digit’, 2018. Caisson lumineux, tirage photographique sur Duratrans. 50,8 x 34 x 12,7 cm. Collection Mudam Luxembourg. Acquisition 2023 © Courtesy de l’artiste et Reena Spaulings Fine Art, NY/LA / Photo : Useful Art Services
    Shadi Habib Allah Dropping the 10th Digit, 2018

    Caisson lumineux, tirage photographique sur Duratrans
    50,8 x 34 x 12,7 cm
    Collection Mudam Luxembourg
    Acquisition 2022
    © Courtesy de l’artiste et Reena Spaulings Fine Art, NY/LA / Photo : Useful Art Services

  1. Shadi Habib Allah, ‘Dropping the 10th Digit’, 2018. Caisson lumineux, tirage photographique sur Duratrans. 50,8 x 34 x 12,7 cm. Collection Mudam Luxembourg. Acquisition 2023 © Courtesy de l’artiste et Reena Spaulings Fine Art, NY/LA / Photo : Useful Art Services
    Shadi Habib Allah Dropping the 10th Digit, 2018

    Caisson lumineux, tirage photographique sur Duratrans
    50,8 x 34 x 12,7 cm
    Collection Mudam Luxembourg
    Acquisition 2023
    © Courtesy de l’artiste et Reena Spaulings Fine Art, NY/LA / Photo : Useful Art Services

  1. Shadi Habib Allah, ‘Dropping the 10th Digit’, 2018. Caisson lumineux, tirage photographique sur Duratrans. 50,8 x 34 x 12,7 cm. Collection Mudam Luxembourg. Acquisition 2023 © Courtesy de l’artiste et Reena Spaulings Fine Art, NY/LA / Photo : Useful Art Services
    Shadi Habib Allah Dropping the 10th Digit, 2018

    Caisson lumineux, tirage photographique sur Duratrans
    50,8 x 34 x 12,7 cm
    Collection Mudam Luxembourg
    Acquisition 2023
    © Courtesy de l’artiste et Reena Spaulings Fine Art, NY/LA / Photo : Useful Art Services

  1. Shadi Habib Allah, ‘Dropping the 10th Digit’, 2018. Caisson lumineux, tirage photographique sur Duratrans. 50,8 x 34 x 12,7 cm. Collection Mudam Luxembourg. Donation 2023 – De l’artiste © Courtesy de l’artiste et Reena Spaulings Fine Art, NY/LA / Photo : Useful Art Services
    Shadi Habib Allah Dropping the 10th Digit, 2018

    Caisson lumineux, tirage photographique sur Duratrans
    50,8 x 34 x 12,7 cm
    Collection Mudam Luxembourg
    Donation 2023 – De l’artiste
    © Courtesy de l’artiste et Reena Spaulings Fine Art, NY/LA / Photo : Useful Art Services

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