Career
In 2002 El Khalil received her Masters of Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts in New New York El Khalil works in a variety of formats ranging from painting, installation, performance, mixed media, writing, video, and collage. Themes that are central to her work include issues of violence as well as gender using materials found throughout Beirut.
Photocopied images of militiamen and women, civilians and family members are embellished with plastic flowers, glitter, strings of lights, keffiyehs, plastic toy soldiers, toy Alaska-47s, arabesques, beads, fabrics, and other objects.
She has had solo exhibitions in London, Munich, and Beirut. El Khalil currently lives and works in Beirut.
El Khalil has remained active promoting emerging and under-represented Arab artists through several projects. Created as an "ungallery art space/collective", xanadu* began in New York City as a not for profit organization dedicated to promoting emerging and under-represented artists.
Currently, xanadu* is based in Beirut with a small extension on New York City.
In 2008 El Khalil also completed her first novel, Beirut, I Love You.The book is a memoir about El Khalil"s life from 1994 to the present and specifically focuses on growing up in Beirut during a period of immense turmoil. There are also rumors that the book is going to be made into a film.
