Sophia Al Maria

Sophia Al Maria
Born	1983 Tacoma, Washington, US
Nationality	Qatari-American
Occupation	Artist, writer, filmmaker

Sophia Al Maria (صوفيا الماريا) (born 1983) is a Qatari-American artist, writer, and filmmaker. She studied comparative literature at the American University in Cairo, and aural and visual cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her work has been exhibited at the Gwangju Biennale, the New Museum in New York, and the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. Her writing has appeared in Harper's Magazine, Five Dials, Triple Canopy, and Bidoun.

She works a great deal with the concept of "Gulf Futurism". This concept was discussed by Bruce Sterling in two of his columns in Wired magazine. He writes of her "There needs to be an exclusive first-class purdah lounge somewhere, where people like Sophia Al-Maria can hang out because they’re too gifted, intelligent and interesting to be exposed to the actual Internet."

Her memoir The Girl Who Fell To Earth was published by Harper Perennial on November 27, 2012.

Sophia was born to an American mother hailing from Puyallup, Washington and a Qatari father. She spent time in both countries during her childhood.

Gulf Futurism is a term coined Sophia Al Maria to explain an existing phenomenon she has observed in architecture, urban planning, art, aesthetics and popular culture in the post-oil Persian Gulf.

Her interest in these areas arises from her youth growing up in the Persian Gulf area during the 1980s and 1990s, experiences she describes in The Girl Who Fell To Earth.

Sharing some qualities with 20th century movements like Futurism, Gulf Futurism is evident in the agenda of the dominant class of this region, concerned with master planning and world building, and with a local youth culture that exhibits an asset bubble fuelled sense of entitlement and is preoccupied with fast cars and fast technology.

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