Izza Alyssa 






Izza Alyssa is a third-culture artist, born 
in Indonesia and raised in Qatar, working 
across video, performance, and poetry. 
Navigating liminality and diasporic memory 
through a poetic documentary lens, her 
autobiographical practice weaves personal 
and collective histories into acts of witnessing 
and care. Recurring motifs include archival 
fragments, intimate gestures, and the unseen 
architectures of belonging. Drawing from 
media archaeology, postfeminist subjectivity,
and historical resonance, she activates 
the archive as a living, performative space.


Education:
MFA Yale University
BFA VCUarts
 

Certification:
Yale University Art Gallery:
Museum Education Workshop
2025
Yale University:

Cultifating Conversation Fellowship
2025
Cultifating Dialogue Institute
2024
Stanford University:
Futurist Leadership: Thrive during 
Times of Accelerated Change
2024

Chosen Performance:

Peshinden Singer (solo)
    Javanese Gamelan Ensamble, 
    Wesleyan University, U.S.A 
Singer (group)
    Music Lab, Qatar
Singer (band)
    FIFA World Cup, Qatar 
Singer (duo)
    FIFA Arab Cup 


Selected Collaborations:
FIFA
MotoGP
W Hotel
Katara Studio
Qatar Museum
Smithsonian Institution
Qatar Foundaton
Hamad International Airport
Indonesian Embassy in Qatar
Ministry of Public Health Qatar
Yale School of Architecture


Selected Exhibitons:
Time Again,
  Yale School of Art Gallery, U.S.A

in-betweenness of the infinite, 
   Fire Station Museum, Qatar

Open Studio,
 Graphic Design Atrium, Yale School of Art, U.S.A

MENA mosaic, 
   Yale Middle Eastern and North African 
   Cultural Community, U.S.A

Moving Image,
   Yale Center for Collaborative Arts, U.S.A

Keep In Touch, 
    3rd World, England

Breath,
   Broken Englizh, England

This Sand is Made of Stars 
This Sea is made of Pearls, 
   Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art, Qatar

Pronto, 
   Scale 7, Qatar

Radical Futures, 
   VCUarts, Qatar

Cultural Misfits, 
   Tasmeem Doha, Qatar

Design Across Divides
    Michigan, U.S.A


Selected Research:
Partcipation Design Lab
Water With Water


Email

Fireworks
2025


23rd of June 2025, Qatar

Iran launched missiles at Al Udeid Air Base in/to Qatar, in retaliation for U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

Archive, Moving Image, Poetry

National Archives

2025

4.5 × 5.5 in

Photographs taken with a toy camera during the 250th military anniversary celebrations over the 4th of July weekend.


Archive, Zine


Choreography of the Everyday
2025


Directed by Izza Alyssa
Performed by Reid Hightower, Irving Morris
Written by Izza Alyssa, Reid Hightower, Irving Morris

Art Direction, Performance Art

Taqwa
2025


Text from Zohran Mamdani’s October 25 2025 speech. 

Textile, Moving Image, Sound



The Throat
2025


Written and Directed by Shiyun Deng

Improvised public performance by Izza Alyssa, Camille Gwise, Saskia Sepahima Globig, Emma Hinako, Shiyun Deng

Costume and Makeup by Izza Alyssa, Emma Hinako

Collaborative ensemble work presented at the 2025 Yale MFA Thesis Show, part of Shiyun Deng’s research on breath, phonation, screams into action, exploring voice and movement as interconnected modes of communication.

Performance Art, Audio


Jekardah

2021


Through iconography, fleeting memories are reimagined into wearable fashion pieces.

Textile, Illustration, Moving Image



Tanah Air

2021


Written and directed by Izza Alyssa

As her developmental years were filled with transient relationships, she searches for a space in belonging through her faith and fleeting memories.

Short Film, Poetry



Mafi 3arabi

2024


Exploring how third-culture kids in Arabian Gulf navigate identity through Arabic-English code-switching and Pidgin English, influenced by globalization and digital media. 

Can language both connects and divides in a rapidly changing world?

Archive, Moving Image



Kasih Sayang Untuk Layla
2020


Set in Malaysia in the 2000s, When a young girl’s mother travels abroad for work, she needs to find a way to overcome her longing for her mother and convince her strict grandmother to allow her to call her mother.

Art Direction