Muriel Hasbun

Hasbun reading at Busboys and Poets, Washington, D.C., 2022

Muriel Hasbun (born in San Salvador, 1961 - died in Silver Spring, Maryland, 2026) was a Salvadoran-American photographer and educator, best known for her series and archives exploring themes related to migration, displacement, and identity.[1] [2]Hasbun utilized her multicultural family background to produce a series of photographs that explored diverse heritages and the idea of “terruño” (homeland), especially through her Christian Palestinian and Polish-Jewish roots.[3] Hasbun was recognized for her ethereal, layered aesthetic that bridged the gap between archives and lived experiences.[4]

Early life

Muriel Hasbun was born in 1961 in San Salvador, El Salvador, but she originated from a multicultural background.[5] Her father, Antonio Hasbun Z., was a Salvadoran-born dentist and amateur photographer of Christian Palestinian descent.[6] His family left Bethlehem at the beginning of the 20th century, escaping from the Ottoman army conscription during World War I.[6] Similarly, her mother, Janine Janowski, whose family was originally from Poland, was born in France and survived the Nazi regime and the Holocaust by hiding in Auvergne, France.[7][8] She later immigrated to El Salvador in 1958, serving as a teacher for the children of the French consul.[8]

In 1979, Hasbun left El Salvador at the onset of the Salvadoran Civil War.[9] The artist lived in Paris for her first year of college, but moved to Washington, D.C., where she graduated with a degree in French Literature from Georgetown University and pursued a Master of Fine Arts in Photography from the George Washington University.[10]

Academic career

Muriel Hasbun’s career is marked by her long-standing trajectory at the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at the George Washington University. Currently, Hasbun is a professor Emerita at GWU, where she previously served as professor and Chair of Photography.[11] The photographer also expanded her academic influence as a visiting artist at prestigious universities. She served as the 2021-2022 Estelle Lebowitz Endowed Visiting Artist at Rutgers University with her photograph series Seismic Traces.[12]

Muriel Hasbun is a recipient of many awards, including the Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship, the Howard Chapnick Grant of the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund for laberinto projects (2014); a Museums Connect grant funded by the U.S. Department of State and the American Association of Museums (2011-12);  the Corcoran’s Outstanding Creative Research Faculty Award (2007) and a Fulbright Scholar Grant (2006-2008).[13]

Transnational projects

In 2012, following her mission as an educator, Hasbun founded Laberinto Projects, a cultural initiative focused on fostering art practices and education by exploring issues of migration, transnational identity, and social inclusion.[14] The project is based in El Salvador, and it provides a framework for cultural studies through archives, including the collections of Galería el Laberinto during the Salvadoran Civil War.[15] The Laberinto Projects initiative hosts residency programs, including a series of workshops with the assistance of the Master Artist Muriel Hasbun.[15]

Artistic practice

Her work is rooted in merging personal memory with collective archives. In her series Tracing Terruño, Muriel explores the concept of terruño (homeland), utilizing her Christian Palestinian, Polish-Jewish, and Salvadoran heritages to create an idea of transnational identity and postmemory photography.[16][17] In general, Hasbun takes multiple exposures and layering of photographs, letters, documents, and personal objects to create a collection of series of photographs, in which most connect her family’s background to a broader collective narrative of migration.[18]

Another example of the use of personal objects is her series X post facto, in which she continues her investigation of archival memory through her father’s negatives when he worked as a dentist.[19] The selected 32 pieces for X post facto were, in fact, a collection of X-rays to identify bodies of individuals who died in the Salvadoran Civil War.[20] This series bridges her family archives to the history of El Salvador and the Civil War, which was the event that motivated Muriel Husband to migrate to the United States.[20]

Her series Santos y Sombras also serves as a reflection on Hasbun's hybrid identity as a multiculturally raised individual.[21] She layers images of her ancestors with symbols of diverse Christian, Palestinian, and Polish-Jewish roots.[22][23] Through the layering process, Hasbun bridges the gap between her European and Middle Eastern heritage and her lived experience in El Salvador, creating what she terms "postmemory" photography.[24]

Collections

National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

Whitney Museum of American Art

Smithsonian American Art Museum

References

  1. ↑ "Muriel Hasbun | Smithsonian American Art Museum". americanart.si.edu. Retrieved 2026-05-07.
  2. ↑ "Muriel Hasbun Obituary - Silver Spring, MD". Dignity Memorial. Retrieved 2026-05-18.
  3. ↑ "Muriel Hasbun: Tracing Terruño | International Center of Photography". www.icp.org. 2023-06-06. Retrieved 2026-05-07.
  4. ↑ Pardo Porto, Cristina E. (2021). "Counter-visuality and affect in Pulso: Nuevos registros culturales (2020-present) by Muriel Hasbun" (PDF). Istmo. Revista Virtual de Estudios Literarios y Culturales Centroamericanos: 119.
  5. ↑ "Five Questions with Photographer Muriel Hasbun | Smithsonian American Art Museum". americanart.si.edu. Retrieved 2026-05-07.
  6. 1 2 "Interview with artist and educator Muriel Hasbun-Gabriella Argueta-Cevallos". wp.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2026-05-07.
  7. ↑ "Portrait of the Leon and Janine Janowski in hiding in Mont-Dore". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 1942.
  8. 1 2 Duganne, Erina (2023). "Registers for the future: Muriel Hasbun's Pulse" (PDF). Smarthistory: 2.
  9. ↑ "Muriel Hasbun: Tracing Terruño | International Center of Photography". www.icp.org. 2023-06-06. Retrieved 2026-05-07.
  10. ↑ "International Center of Photography (ICP) Presents First NYC Career Survey of Muriel Hasbun | International Center of Photography". www.icp.org. 2023-08-01. Retrieved 2026-05-07.
  11. ↑ "International Center of Photography (ICP) Presents First NYC Career Survey of Muriel Hasbun | International Center of Photography". www.icp.org. 2023-08-01. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
  12. ↑ "Muriel Hasbun: Seismic Traces". newbrunswick.rutgers.edu. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
  13. ↑ "ARTIST AND THE ARCHIVE". laberinto projects. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
  14. ↑ "laberinto projects". laberinto projects. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
  15. 1 2 "laberinto projects". www.transartists.org. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
  16. ↑ & Leo Spitzer, Marianne Hirsch (2016). "WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE? Archival Photographs in Contemporary Narratives" (PDF). American Theological Library Association: 241.
  17. ↑ "MIGRATION, IDENTITY AND MEMORY: MURIEL HASBUN AT ICP". Retrieved 2026-05-08.
  18. ↑ Ferrer, Elizabeth (2016). "Latinx Photography in the United States". University of Washington Press: 122.
  19. ↑ "X post facto (5.6), from the series X post facto (équis anónimo) | Smithsonian American Art Museum". americanart.si.edu. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
  20. 1 2 Guerrero, Marcela (September 9, 2024). ""Muriel Hasbun, X post facto (6.7)"". Smarthistory.
  21. ↑ Pardo Porto, Cristina E. (2021). "Counter-visuality and Affect in Pulso: Nuevos registros culturales (2020-present) by Muriel Hasbun" (PDF). Istmo. Revista virtual de estudios literarios y culturales centroamericanos: 122.
  22. ↑ "Santos y sombras | Saints and Shadows". murielhasbun.com. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
  23. ↑ "Muriel Hasbun". www.arts.gov. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
  24. ↑ "Five Questions with Photographer Muriel Hasbun | Smithsonian American Art Museum". americanart.si.edu. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
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