Medhat Shafik was born in El Badari, Egypt, in 1956. Since 1976, he has lived and worked in Italy. He graduated in painting and set design from the Brera Academy of Fine Arts. Since the 1980s, he has successfully participated in numerous Italian and international art exhibitions. His breakthrough came in 1995 when the Egypt Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, in which he was a leading figure alongside two fellow artists, was awarded the Golden Lion for Nations. Over the years, he has received several prestigious awards, including The Nile Grand Prize at the 9th Cairo International Biennale in 2003.

Among his recent solo exhibitions: GAM in Verona (2007), Fondazione Stelline in Milan (2011), La Pilotta in Parma (2012), Politecnico Bovisa in Milan (2017), and Macro Asilo in Rome (2019).