Born 1959 in Romania, Belu-Simion Făinaru lives and works in Haifa, Israel and Antwerpen, Belgium.
He holds a B.A. degree in Art and Philosophy from Haifa University and a M.F.A. in Art and Design from University of Chicago, USA. Further studies include Domus Academy, Milan, Italy and the Bruxelles Royal Academy of Art, Belgium.
Făinaru‘s works were exhibited at the 1992 Documenta in Kassel, the 1993 Venice Biennale, the Sonsbeek Biennale in Holland and the 2006 Biennale in Havana, Cuba.
Previous solo exhibitions include Israel Museum in Jerusalem, S.M.A.K. Museum in Ghent, M HKA in Antwerpen, Lehmbruck Museum in Germany and Saitama Museum in Japan.
He is a guest lecturer at universities in Belgium and Japan, and has been teaching in the Department of Architecture at the Wizo Academy, Haifa, Israel since 1984.
Since 2010, Belu-Simion Făinaru has been the artistic director and curator of the Mediterranean Biennale of Contemporary Art, Israel.

Solo exhibitions (selection):

2015
– The Fullness of the Void, Plan B Berlin

2012
– Nothingness – The Poetics of Void, Plan B Cluj
– Everything is going to be alright, Brukental Museum, Sibiu

2003
– Jewish Kitchen, Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Herzliya

2001
– Out of Place, MuHKA Museum voor Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen, Antwerp
– Belongs Nowhere and to Another Time, Museum of Modern Art, Saitama

1998
– Bait, Wilhelm-Lehmbruck-Museum, Duisburg

1994
– Sagacho Exhibit Space, Tokyo
– Presentation of the Bride, Kunstverein Arnsberg

1992
– The Heart Needs More Room to Breathe, Ramat Gan Museum of Israeli Art
– Mondwasser, Galerie Hubertus Wunschik, Düsseldorf

1990
– The Heart Needs More Room to Breathe, Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, Ghent

1989
– Tzad Mizrah, Musée d’Art Moderne, Brüsselles

1987
– The Unity of a Broken Wing, I.C.C. International Culture Center, Antwerp

1986
– Blue Garden for Sun Lovers, Janco Dada Museum, Ein Hod, Israel

Group exhibitions (selection):

2014
– The Sea – Salut D’honneur Jan Hoet, Mu.ZEE, Oostende

2013
– The Second Mediterranean Biennale, Sakhnin

2012
– connected – 1. deutsch-israelische Kulturtage Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Kröpelin

2010
– The First Haifa Mediterranean Biennale, Haifa

2007
– connected, Altes Museum / Kunst c/o Mönchengladbach – more or less in the same place or another, Plan B Cluj

2006
– 9th Biennale in Havana

2005
– Spielräume, Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg

2003
– Gelijk het leven is, S.M.A.K. Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent
– 2nd International Triennial of Installation Art, Museum of Art, Haifa
– M_ARS – Art and War, Neue Galerie Graz – Universalmuseum Joanneum, Graz

2002
– Art On The Line, Haifa City Museum, Haifa

2001
– You are the others, Kunstmuseum Herford
– Locus Focus, Sonsbeek 9, Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Arnhem

2000
– Continental Shift, Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen
– Over The Edges, S.M.A.K. Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent

1999
– Vision of light, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem

1997
– Object, Sacre, Ritual, Museum of Art, Nashville/USA

1995
– INBETWEEN, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin; Porzellanmanufaktur Georgenthal, Gotha

1993
– Über-Leben, Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn
– INBETWEEN, The 45th Venice Biennale
– Antypathos, Israel Museum, Jerusalem

1992
– Fluxus Virus, Kaufhof-Parkhaus, Köln; Kölnischer Kunstverein u.a.
– documenta IX, Kassel
– Makom, The National Museum of Art, Seoul

1987
– Inside-Outside: An Aspect of Contemporary Sculpture, Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst (MUHKA), Antwerp

Works in public collections: S.M.A.K. Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent; Haifa Museum, Tel Aviv Museum, Israel Museum, Jerusalem; Hebrew University, Jerusalem; Wilhelm-Lehmbruck-Museum, Duisburg.

Art prizes:
2014 – Minister of Culture Prize for Visual Art, Israel
2006 – Ianculovici Cultural Prize, Romania
2000 – Museum of Haifa Art Prize
1998 – Jaffin Prize, American-Israel Culture Foundation, Tel Aviv
1994 – Art Award, Klein Plastik, Hilden
1994 – City of Haifa Young Artist Prize, City of Haifa, Haifa Art Foundation
1994 – Nachum Gutman Prize, Israel
1992 – First Prize Sculpture Competition, Levi and Fortuna Askenazi Sculpture Garden, Tel-Aviv University (1992).