ISSUEtribe 10/2020 1
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CONTEMPORARY ART FROM YEMEN @arsheef.yemen
GROUP EXHIBITION FEB 27 — APR 18
In recent times, much of the Arab world has experienced protest action, and while the political and economic demands differed between uprisings, at the core of each movement was the desire for a better future. Gulf Photo Plus invites you to this exhibition of images, video, and writing, which takes its title from graffiti scrawled across a wall in Baghdad that encapsulates this desire: ‘All What I Want is Life’ Featuring Myriam Boulos, Tamara Abdul Hadi & Roï Saade from Lebanon; Amir Hazim and Abdullah Dhiaa Al-Deen from Iraq; Lana Haroun and Salih Basheer from Sudan; and Fethi Sahraoui and Abdo Shanan from Algeria —these artists reside among the communities depicted in their work, and through their interpretations of these events, offer a variety of perspectives on the uprisings—a refreshing antidote to the mainstream media’s simplistic and trope-ridden depiction.
For more information, please visit https://gulfphotoplus.com, or @gulfphotoplus
Asim Abdulaziz. Untitled from the series detached, 2020
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Contents
Issue 10 / 2020
INDUSTRY
IN CONVERSATION
Vetera Novis, Gallery Isabelle van
TINTERA Gallery...................... 48 - 51
den Eynde, Dubai. For You Mother:
By: Yasmine El Rashidi
Ayyam Gallery, Dubai. The Place I Call Home: Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah, The Red Palace: Cultural Foundation, Abu Dhabi. Colour Bar: Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah. Past Tense: Birzeit University Museum, Palestine. Sourtna: National
Photography
Museum,
Distorted Reality...................... 52 - 57 By: Dr. Effat Fadag Process and Practices.............. 58 - 61 By: Veeranganakumari Solanki PORTFOLIO
Rabat. Theater of Operations: MOMA
Staging ‘Satellite Culture’........ 62 - 71
PS1, New York. FOCUS: Modern
By: Suzy Sikorski
Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas.
Reorienting our Gaze.............. 72 - 85
Keyword Palestine II: Middle East
By: Woodman Taylor
Institute Gallery, Washington, D.C.. I Am Who I Am Who Am I: Anahita
PROFILE
Contemporary, Berlin. Disclosed: United
Against Photography............... 86 - 91
Photo Industries Gallery, Brooklyn. Staff
By: Sabrina DeTurk
of Life: ICA London. Plastic: Tashkeel,
Faces of Erased Places ........... 92 - 97
Dubai ...........................................12 - 15
By: Valerie Behiery The Lebanese Revolution...... 98 - 107
ART FAIR I Love You, Urgently................ 16 - 17 By: Rachel Bennett
By: Aimee Dawson NEW MEDIA Delicate............................... 108 - 109
MUSEUM Continued Resonance............. 18 - 23 By: Rachel Dedman
By: Anna Seaman The Fifth Sun and Al Mars... 110 - 113 By: Rebecca Anne Proctor Syria Serenading Graveyards
REVIEW Turning the Light On............... 24 - 29
at Dusk................................. 114 - 115
By: Lizzy Vartanian Collier
By: Tara Aldughaither
Speaking Across Mountains.... 30 - 31 By: Katrina Weber Ashour Unreal. Unseen. Untouched.... 32 - 33 By: Woodman Taylor The Arab Street Vol. II............. 34 - 37 By: Reem Farah March Project 2019................. 38 - 41
BOOKS Succession.....................................116 Edge of Elysium.............................117 SERIES New Dutch Views................ 118 - 123
By: Cecilia Ruggeri
13301.................................. 124 - 127
Mara’ina (Our Mirrors)............. 42 - 45
Among You.......................... 128 - 133
By: Kevin Jones An Image and Her Woman...... 46 - 47
PROJECT SPACE
By: Stella N. Peisch
Grandma Ameena Wishes.............134
Editor’s note Community, cultural significance, uncertainties, belonging and reflection describes the landmark 10th edition of Tribe, that comes out at this time of uncertainty. The March art madness we typically wait for with abated breath in the UAE has been knocked out of left field—as the world copes with the impact of COVID-19. Major events have been postponed and others have shifted to online platforms. However, we adapt and still bring you an edition that opens to the evolving future of this publication. To rewind, Tribe captures the dynamic and growing community of creatives in photography and image-based media throughout the Arab world and its diasporas. Tribe continues its journey, taking on additional team members, like Creative Director David Howarth. March celebrates International Women’s Day, so we would like to thank the many creative women who have cheered Tribe on since its inception. Sama Alshaibi encapsulates this moment on our cover and warriors on as our feature portfolio story. Her latest work takes ownership of the image while opposing problematic Orientalist framings, as Woodman Taylor, also Tribe’s Associate Editor, explains. Other projects in this edition explore and reexamine issues of identity and belonging, transformations, reflection and memory. Exhibitions covered range from how identities are expressed on the Arab street to that of a young girl in the work of Rania Matar, as reviewed by Stella Peisch. While the viewpoints are diverse, fragility and awareness echo in both. As many returning writers engaged in conversations about and reviews of recent exhibitions, we also learn about exciting new photo galleries, in Cairo as well as the first in Yemen. In the United Arab Emirates, Sabrina DeTurk focuses on the archive in Akram Zaatari’s Against Photography. In Saudi Arabia, Rachel Bennett describes how 21,39 grasps the community in riveting conversations while Kevin Jones reflects on the ‘mirror’ and photography in a new exhibition at Ithra. Meanwhile, on the streets of Lebanon, creatives take hold of the moment of chaos that reverberated through social media in the revolution—Thawra—of 2019. Many have expressed a welcoming hope for 2020, so the team here looks to new ventures now postponed due to the pandemic until the Fall 2020 edition—when many art platforms and events plan to reignite. Stay safe and connected, follow us for the latest @tribephotomag. Thank you for your indulgence. Enjoy... Janet Bellotto
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Tribe has been supported by: Tashkeel and Kaleem Books. With Many Thanks to: Maysoune Ghobash // Lamya Gargash // Sirin Masri // Deborah Kanafani // Lulu Al-Sabah // Rami & Ramzi Tabiaat // Sophie Bray // Tammam and Dr Nasrine Abushakra, Ph.D. Cover Image: Sama Alshaibi, Ma Ijtama’t Aydina ‘ala Qabdah illa wa-Kanat
f tribephotomag d tribephotomag - www.tribephotomagazine.com
Mu’attalah (What our hands joined was broken) with Mu’allaqat (Suspended) in the background, from the Silsila series (2009) Digital collage.
Media Partnerships:
Editor Janet Bellotto
Associate Editor Woodman Taylor
Copy Editor Sabrina DeTurk
Social Media Leena Aboutaleb
Artfair Coordinator Daveeda Shaheen
Photo Editor Sueraya Shaheen
Creative Director David Howarth
Editorial Assistant Sarah Spendiff
Industry Editor Lizzy Vartanian Collier
Business Development Nanda Collins
This catalogue is created as a showcase of creative works within the region. Its aim is to create awareness of the arts. Please note that the information in this catalogue, including all articles, and photographs, do not make any claims. Any information offered is expressly the opinion of the creator/author of that material. The content created by the authors, creators and works on these pages are subject to copyright law. The reproduction, editing, distribution and any kind of exploitation outside the limits of copyright require the written consent of the respective author or creator. 7.05.16.9.3.4.5683.968
TICKETS ON SALE photolondon.org #PhotoLondonFair20 Photographic collage by Abigail Hunt
Writers Aimee Dawson is the Associate Digital Editor
Janet Bellotto is an artist, curator, writer and
Hyperallergic and Vogue Arabia. She was the
at The Art Newspaper. She specialises in art
educator from Toronto. A Professor of Visual Arts
curator of Perpetual Movement during AWAN
and culture from the Middle East and North
at the College of Arts and Creative Enterprises at
Festival in 2018 and in 2019 had a residency at
Africa having a BA in Arabic and Middle
Zayed University, Dubai, she engages in projects
The Lab at Darat Al Funun. Later that year she
East Studies and an MA in Contemporary
that promote cultural exchange, while examining
co-founded Yemen’s Arsheef Gallery. She has given
African and Asian art. She has contributed to
the ever-changing world that she travels. Her work
workshops at Manara Culture in Amman, Jordan
a number of publications including Harper’s
has been exhibited in a variety of collective, group
and the V&A, London. flizzycollier
Bazaar, Ibraaz and MOJEH, and was the
and solo exhibitions, as well as at international art
writer-in-residence for Shubbak Festival of
fairs. Her major research project on Sable Island
Rachel Bennett is a writer and editor who recently
Arab Culture and Nour Festival of Arts in
was published in 2017 by lightbox, Venice, with
2015. f amldawson
MAP Office in the book Our Ocean Guide (2017).
Anna Seaman is an art writer and curator,
Reem Farah received a Masters degree in Migration,
a Fulbright Scholar in the UAE during 2016-
Veeranganakumari Solanki is an independent
Mobility, and Development from SOAS, University
17, furthering her thesis by documenting the
curator, writer and researcher based in
of London and identifies as a serial student of the
pioneering Emirati artists at their studios.
Mumbai, India. Her interest lies in the manner
relocated to London. From 2013–2018, she lived in
social sciences. Having moved to Dubai, she sees
Currently, she is a Junior Specialist in Christie’s
in which interdisciplinary forms merge with
the UAE and spent significant time in Saudi Arabia,
art as a medium for social commentary, awareness
Dubai, in Modern & Contemporary Middle
art to create dialogues that travel from
Her forthcoming monograph, Planetary Fluke, is
where she worked on publications on art, music,
and impact. fteenage_bambi
Eastern Art department. Her exhibition reviews
public spaces into private ones and the way
to be published by impulse b. fjanetbellotto
architecture and urbanism with artists, galleries
and interviews have been published in The
curatorial research can be structured around
Sabrina DeTurk is an art historian, curator,
National, Canvas, Harper’s Bazaar Art Arabia
artistic practices that expand the idea of
writer and Associate Professor in the College
and Art Asia Pacific, Oxford University Press’
medium specificity through dialogue and
specialising in Middle Eastern contemporary
and cultural organisations. fspeculative.realness
art. She has been working with different
Katrina Weber Ashour is an arts strategy and
publications in the Gulf for the past 12 years
communications specialist. Her extensive
Rachel Dedman is the Jameel Curator of
of Arts and Creative Enterprises at Zayed
Benezit Dictionary of Artists and mideastart.
story-telling. She has contributed papers
and also works alongside artists and cultural
experience in the Middle East spans cultural
Contemporary Art from the Middle East at
University in Dubai. Her book Street Art in
com. She is continuing to document the
and articles to several international art
institutions in advisory roles. Originally from
organizations from the UAE, Saudi Arabia,
the V&A, London. Until 2019 she was an
the Middle East: Place, Politics and Visual
pioneer artists in the UAE while also traveling
journals and publications. She has curated
the UK, Anna began her career as a journalist
Qatar, Lebanon and Palestine, as well as global
independent curator based in Beirut, where
Style was published by I.B. Tauris in 2019.
throughout the Gulf on photography and
exhibitions, lectured on curating and
working for newspapers and magazines in
institutions from Belgium, Canada, Hong Kong,
she curated projects for Home Works 8 –
f deturk13
research trips. f mideastart
art practices, and conducted workshops
London. fannaseaman1
Italy, Korea, Switzerland and across the United
Ashkal Alwan, Sursock Museum, Beirut Art
internationally at prestigious institutes and
States. She graduated with honors from Wellesley
Center, and the Palestinian Museum. In 2020,
Stella Peisch is a researcher and consultant
Tara Aldughaither is an independent curator,
galleries. Solanki was recently the Curatorial
Cecilia Ruggeri received her MA from the
College and is currently based in Washington,
Rachel is curating Material Power: Palestinian
focusing on the Middle East and North Africa
writer and budding sonic artist. Aldughaither’s
Brooks International Research Fellow at the
Courtauld Institute of Art, London and is
D.C. fkatrinaweberashour
Embroidery for Kettle’s Yard and the Whitworth
region. She has worked for policy think-tanks,
passion for music and performance is integrated
Tate Modern, and a resident at the Delfina
Gallery in the UK. f racheldedman
NGOs, academic research centers, tech
with an education in cultural communication
Foundation (2019), and is the Programme Director for Space Studio, Baroda. fveequine
currently completing a Ph.D. in Art History at The University of Lausanne, Switzerland. She
Kevin Jones is an independent arts writer based
companies and consulting firms focusing on
and curatorial studies. This merge found her
has contributed to several museum exhibitions
in Dubai. New York-born and Paris-bred, he has
Rebecca Anne Proctor is the former Editor-
dynamics, trends and current events in the
practice forming a special interest in curating,
and has published extensively on Renaissance
lived in the Middle East for the past 13 years and
in-Chief of Harper’s Bazaar Art Arabia and
region. She has a Bachelors from Georgetown
writing about and making art that mirrors the
Woodman Taylor is a scholar of West and
art. She is particularly interested in the artistic
is currently the UAE Desk Editor for Art Asia Pacific.
Harper’s Bazaar Interiors, a role she held since
in government, Arabic and justice and peace
influence of intangible culture on society.
South Asian art. Trained at Harvard as a
exchange between the East and the West.
He has contributed to The Art Newspaper, Artforum.
January 2015. A speaker and moderator at
studies and a Masters from the London School
Her independent practice is fully focused on
curator of Islamic and South Asian art,
com, Art Review Asia and Flash Art International.
art and cultural events, her writing has
of Economics in international development
empathy-driven initiatives that are informed
he later curated at the Museum of Fine
Dr. Effat Abdullah Fadag is an Associate
Regionally, his writing has been published in Harper’s
been published in The New York Times
and humanitarian emergencies. She has
by the sonic and performative elements of
Arts Boston. With a University of Chicago
Professor of Fine Art at the University of Jeddah
Bazaar Art Arabia, Bidoun, Canvas, Brownbook
Style Magazine, Bloomberg Businessweek,
recently been focusing on collective trauma
any context—with a special focus on retrieving
doctorate, he taught at the University of
and an artist, academic and curator working in
and The National. Formerly a brand strategist
Canvas, Artnet News, Frieze, BBC, Arab
in post-conflict periods, specifically on
women’s folk culture and exploring its role in
Illinois, Chicago, Jawaharlal Nehru University
the field of higher education since 1990. She
with international branding and communications
News, Galerie, FOLIO, The National, ArtNews
contested memories and incidences of mass
contemporary spaces. ftara3mad
and the American University in Dubai, where
received her BA in Islamic Art, King Abdulaziz
agencies, Kevin is also the creator of the niche
and The Business of Fashion. She has also
killings, as well as the role of service provision
University, MA and PhD of Fine Art from the
consultancy Juniper Mind, which mingles critical and
written several texts for books and catalogues
in the social contract between the state and
Valerie Behiery is a Canadian independent
Communication. Taylor has published on
UK. Fadag participated in the pioneering visual
creative thinking from the art world with strategic
on Middle Eastern art and culture. Proctor
the population. She is currently based in
scholar and arts writer whose research focuses
a wide variety of topics, including the
art movement in the Kingdom. She served as
storytelling from brand culture. The mantra: help
obtained her MLitt from Christie’s London
Beirut, Lebanon and is from Cambridge,
on historical and contemporary art and
visuality of Indian cinema and contemporary
the Chair of the of Islamic Art Department
brands be more like artists, and artists more like
in Modern and Contemporary Art History,
Massachusetts. f stellamnla
visual culture from or related to the Middle
Emirati photography. In 2018, he curated
at KAU, and the Dean of the Hekma School
brands. (www.junipermind.com) fjunipermind
a double MA in Middle Eastern Studies
East. Possessing a background in academic
Growing a Global Community: Celebrating
he was Chair of the Department of Visual
and Conflict Resolution from the American
Suzy Sikorski specializes in modern artists
teaching and museum consultancy, her
the NYUAD Institute. Currently Taylor is
the curator of the 21,39 Jeddah Arts with the
Lizzy Vartanian Collier aka Gallery Girl is a writer
University of Paris and a Master’s in Sociology
of the Gulf region, completing her thesis
writing has been published in many reference
Professor of Art History at both Dubai and
theme Al Obour or ‘crossing’ and Ard Altoud,
and curator based in London. Her work has
of Conflicts from the L’Institut Catholique.
on three generations of artists in the UAE
works, books, art catalogues, art magazines
Abu Dhabi campuses of Zayed University.
with Misk Art Institute. feffatfadag
been featured in publications including Dazed,
frebeccaanneproctor
at Fordham University, New York. She was
and peer-reviewed journals.
cwoodmantaylor
of Design and Architecture. In 2019 she was
10 tribe
tribe 11
INDUSTRY
INDUSTRY Images - Courtesy of the artist.
For You Mother: Ayyam Gallery, Dubai In a new body of work photographer Rula Halawani evokes the emotional resonance of Palestine for her mother. As related by Halawani, “When I finished my series For My Father I showed it to my mother, told her that I did the series in honor of my Baba and asked her if she liked it? She replied “Yes of course darling I do like it very much!” Then she asked “Rula, are you going to make a series for me when I leave this universe?” Taking inspiration from her Mother’s words “even when we die and leave this world, our spirits will remain floating in the skies of our county, Palestine,” Halawani inserts old photographs of Palestinian families hovering in clouds, as if spirits, above historic views of cities and landscapes of their native land. As with her initial series, Halawani again creates moving visualizations of Palestine evoking the nostalgia for places and emotions of belonging eternally to their lands. 23 March - 30 April 2020
Untitled 8, from the series For You Mother (2020), Archival Print, 120 x 150 cm
The Place I Call Home: Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah The Place I Call Home is a project that uses contemporary photography to explore the idea of home related to the experiences of young people living in the Gulf and the UK at a time of rapid change and social mobility. The project comprises a photography exhibition and public outreach programme that travels to various venues in six Gulf states and the UK from Autumn 2019 through Spring 2020. The exhibition and accompanying activities are commissioned by the British Council and curated by David Drake, Director of Ffotogallery, the national photography agency for Wales. 7 March – 31 May 2020 Intallation view: The Place I Call Home
The Red Palace: Cultural Foundation, Abu Dhabi After an initial site-specific installation taking over the original Red Palace in
Memari, Ghanem Younes, Khalid Al Tamimi, Maha Al Hammadi, Maryam Al
Riyad during the Fall of 2019, artist Sultan Bin Fahad’s re-staging of momentous
Suwaidi, Mattia Gambardella, Renad Hussein, Roudha Al Shamsi, Saoud Al
moments in the history of Saudi Arabia travelled to Abu Dhabi where it took
Dhaheri, Sarah Aladayleh, Shamsa Al Omaira and Wafa Al Qasaimi.
over spaces within the recently renovated Cultural Foundation. In its second
26 January – 28 March 2020
iteration, The Red Palace exhibition was choreographed into seven ‘chapters’ reflecting specific historic events—from the completion of Abdulaziz’s Red Palace in 1944 to the occupation of Mecca’s Masjid al-Haram in 1979 and the initial
Vetera Novis, Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde, Dubai
Aqrah, Nineveh 1961 (2019) Inkjet print on Hahnemuhle fine art photo rag pearl paper 60 x 60 cm
Gulf War—to themes of ‘Labour’, the ‘Holy Economy’, ‘Payer Room’ culminating in ‘Dinner at the Palace’, where Bin Fahad recreates a hypothetical dinner for the labourers and servants of the Red Palace, using actual tableware from the palace. Bin Fahad uses a variety of material culture, from memorabilia, historical
The exhibition Vetera Novis (Argument with Old and New), in four
benefit from oil revenues. The new set of prints was produced in collaboration
relics, discarded objects, photographs and video collected at various sites across
movements—Architecture, Landscape; Modernity; Daily Life and Portraits
with the Arab Image Foundation (AIF) which maintains Al Ani’s archive. The
the kingdom, to engage audiences with redolent past histories of Saudi Arabia.
– displayed masterworks by veteran photographer Latif Al Ani. As a chronicler
exhibition follows last year’s retrospective Latif Al Ani: Through the Lens
Common Ground, a group exhibition reflecting the common ground between
of Iraqi life from the 1950s through the 70s, Al Ani poetically captures the
(1953-1979) curated by Hoor Al-Qasimi at the Sharjah Art Foundation.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE artists was organized in tandem with The Red Palace.
optimism and tremendous opportunities for a modern Iraq as it began to
18 November – 28 December 2019
It features the works of 13 artists: Ahmad Saeed Al Areef Al Dhaheri, Amna Al
12 tribe
Labor III (2019). Multichannel digital video installation, with sound. Duration variable
tribe 13
INDUSTRY
INDUSTRY
Images - Courtesy of the artist.
Images - Courtesy of the artist.
Colour Bar: Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah Colour Bar is an exhibition that places in proximity of creative minds from the United Arab Emirates
The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth presents
and Saudi Arabia, channeled together through a
Hrair Sarkissian’s debut solo exhibition in Texas.
showcase that is dedicated to feature time-based
Featuring three major works, FOCUS: Hrair
media art. Curated by Hind Bin Demaithan, the
Sarkissian explores how violence can be made
exhibition seeks to address a number of questions:
invisible, histories of erasure and restitution and
how is social media changing our art practice and
the sediments of conflict. The exhibition was
experience? How different is a gallery audience
curated by Omar Kholeif, Director of Collections
compared to a cyber-audience? Artists include Ahaad Al Amoudi (KSA), Ahmed Al Areef Al Daheri (UAE), Fawaz Al Batati (KSA/YEMEN), Mansour Al Heera (UAE). 12 October – 30 November 2019
Image courtesy of Fatima Zohra Serri
and Senior Curator at the Sharjah Art Foundation.
Sourtna: National Photography Museum, Rabat
taken today of the same location, shot from the
An exhibition of donated artworks for sale
same spot and angle—over that taken by a
to benefit the Institute for Palestine Studies,
photographer some one hundred years ago.
USA. Photographic highlights of artworks
29 October – 15 January 2020
throughout the project include works by: Jamal Penjweny, from the series Saddam is Here (2010) 60 × 80 cm.
Theater of Operations: MOMA PS1, New York
14 tribe
garment stretches the lengths and boundaries
intersect with hers, along with the documented
of the public and private spaces of the body
landscapes, and culture-specific symbols painted
which holds one’s narrative. The abaya serves as a
on the abaya garments. The abaya in these works
communication tool to uncover hidden narratives.
is a traditional garment from Kuwait which has
5 – 27 March 2020
Promotional poster for Disclosed
which often lead to forming a collective between women, an immortalization of the solidarity and support that exists between them. 7 – 21 March 2020
Staff of Life (2019) Moving image. Commissioned by BBC New Creatives with The Institute of Contemporary Arts London
Staff of Life: ICA London
Mohammed Abdelkarim, Raed Asfour, Aissa Deebi, Fouad Elkoury, Yazan Khalili, Huda Lutfi
Moza Al Matrooshi’s film Staff of Life was
moving image and interactive media from
screened as part of Current Transmissions,
London-based emerging artists.
a four-day showcase of new works in audio,
23 February 2020
and Jack Persekian.
Plastic: Tashkeel, Dubai
2 – 20 March 2020
Does a dystopia or utopia await us in the
This large-scale group exhibition examines the
future? Will we live amid the detritus of hyper-
legacies of American-led military engagement in
consumerism or lead a wholly sustainable
Iraq beginning with the Gulf War in 1991, featuring
existence where single-use plastic is the stuff
over 300 works by more than 80 artists based in Iraq
of history? Featuring works spanning a range of
and its diasporas, as well as those responding to the
mediums by 38 UAE-based artists, the exhibition
war from the West. These artists were also impacted
seeks to drive discussions around single-use
by significant cultural change during this period—
plastic and explore alternative solutions.
including the advent of the 24-hour news cycle, the
4 March – 14 April 2020 at Nad al Sheba
Internet, and new media and military technologies. Jack Persekian, Jaffa Gate 1917 (2017)
MENA region who have shared their stories which
each. In her works, her subjects play various roles Execution Squares (2008) Archival inkjet print, 125 x 160cm.
Keyword Palestine II: Middle East Institute Gallery, Washington, D.C.
an additional layer onto Jerusalem—a photograph
within sacred privacy. In this series, the abaya
women as she seamlessly weaves herself within
photography including M’hammed Kilito, Ismail Zaidy
present and to explore its future, by superimposing
purpose of this garment is complex, yet rooted
connections and invited individuals from the
Al Arashi’s work asks us to question the role of
photographers who are shifting the lines of Moroccan
Jack Persekian urges the community to discuss its
Throughout Farah Salem’s travels, she has made
photographer, subject and audience, Yumna
exhibition Sourtna (our image). He selected
Past Tense: Birzeit University Museum, Palestine
traditions and religious practices over time. The
Often blurring the power dynamics between
Yassine Alaoui Ismail curated the museum’s first
15 January - April 2020
been influenced by socio-cultural constructs,
traveling project which started in Kuwait in 2016.
I Am Who I Am Who Am I: Anahita Contemporary, Berlin
addition to the Moroccan Museum Foundation.
and Lhoucine Boubelrhiti.
Disclosed is an ongoing performance photography
24 January – 15 March 2020
The National Photography Museum is the newest
Ahmad Al Areef Al Dhaheri (2019) Video installation
Disclosed: United Photo Industries Gallery, Brooklyn
FOCUS: Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
3 November 2019 – 1 March 2020
Yazan Khalili: The Day We Saw Nothing in Front of Us (2015)
7 – 21 April 2020 at House 10, Al Fahidi Yumna Al Arashi, We Are Here (2019)
Altamash Javed, Stop Littering (2019)
tribe 15
ART FAIR Images - Courtesy of the artists. Writer - Rachel Bennett, academic, artist and curator.
Alaa Tarabzouni and Fahad bin Naif, Al-Manakh, You Will Be Missed (2019) Installation view
21,39 Jeddah Arts: I Love You, Urgently Transformation, climate and home in the wake of the Anthropocene Since 2013, the Saudi Art Council—a collective of
with the contradictions and challenges of the
multi-person performance is mesmerising, a group
committed patrons based in Saudi Arabia’s Red
Anthropocene—the current geological age, in
of women moving as one in a choreography that
Sea port of Jeddah—have hosted annual winter
which human activity is considered the dominant
takes cues from the reactive, unconscious defence
art events, attracting regional and international
influence on climate and the environment.
mechanisms of organisms in nature.
curators, institutional heads and art lovers to the city. In the early days, a week of exhibitions,
For Aziz Jamal, the tension is palpable in the
auctions, and artist studio visits; today, an
abandoned waterparks of the Eastern Province.
extended programme across multiple venues
His film 1056% deals with water scarcity in Saudi
and three months attracting thousands of visitors.
Arabia—saddled with an unimaginable water debt, it still builds these monuments to excessive water
Absent of any people, the resilience of the landscape is poetic and reverent, respectful of what nature is capable of despite it all
Refreshingly, as the event has grown in scope, it
consumption. There are no people to be found
has remained steadfast in its intimate connection
in his candy-coloured scenes, no water either,
to its home, appointing curators who have long
just a heat that beats down and the occasional
been part of its distinctive scene rather than those
ominous presence of black crows. Fahad bin Naif
parachuted in from further afield. The 7th Edition
and Alaa Tarabzouni have, through photography
is no different—taking place under the stewardship
and artefacts, documented without human
of Maya El Khalil, the founding director of Athr
presence the human-made ecology found in
Gallery which last year celebrated its 10th
Riyadh’s Al-Manakh neighbourhood, home to
anniversary. Absent of any people, the resilience
the behemoth Yamamah Cement Company and
It’s in the extremes of empty expanses vs. human
of the landscape is poetic and reverent, respectful
a park. Though the plant’s role exacerbating the
discord sited within landscape settings in this
of what nature is capable of despite it all.
conditions of the Anthropocene is undeniable,
iteration of 21,39 that El Khalil offers a way to
the area also has a strangely abundant ecology.
grasp the contrary nature of the epoch. In the
The exhibition’s curatorial focus is no different.
moment in which we recognise the irreversible
Hewn close to themes of dialogue and
In contrast to these uncannily unpopulated scenes,
damage we have done to the earth, naming
transformation, its title I Love You, Urgently
Marwah Almugait and Mohammad Alfaraj train
our geology after ourselves, we also begin to
insists on a speaker and an addressee. There is a
their lens on human forms. But the figures have
appreciate the immense interconnectedness
subject unknown that projects the insistent lament
become absorbed and formed by the actions
of all planetary systems and our decentralised
to an object unspecified. In the exhibition’s new
and behaviours of nature, the qualities of their
insignificance in that scheme.
media works, this ambiguous absence/presence
civilised “human-ness” sublimated to a more
plays out in polarities—either across terrains
intuitive, adapted form. In the case of Alfaraj,
eerily unpopulated, or through human beings
this is a sinister subsuming shot in anxiety-inducing
pushed beyond any recognisable relationship
infra-red, where labourers subjected to impossible
to the alien environments they inhabit. In this
heat take on the qualities of hardy local flora and
poetic address, El Khalil and the artists contend
fauna. In stark contrast, Almugait’s meditative
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MUSEUM Images - Courtesy of artists and Art Fund Collection of Middle Eastern Photography at the V&A and the British Museum Writer - Rachel Dedman, curator.
Nermine Hammam, Armed Innocence II, from the series Upekkha (2011) Archival inkjet print, 90 x 60 cm Art Fund Collection of Middle Eastern Photography at the V&A and the British Museum
Continued Resonance: Photography in the V&A’s Collection Three series by Middle Eastern artists Three series from the V&A’s collection of
By contrast, Nermine Hammam’s Upekkha series
Middle Eastern photography, collected in the
makes tender the human face of military action.
early 2010s, are considered afresh in light of
Hammam describes seeing the army arrive in Tahrir
the present.
Square during Egypt’s January revolution in 2011, and the tension that preceded them. “But as the
For her Shadow Sites series (2011) Jananne
hatches opened…what emerged [were]…wide-
Al-Ani photographed Jordan’s landscape
eyed youths with tiny frames, squinting at the
from the air at dawn. The early light’s low
cacophony of Cairo.”1 Uniformed soldiers stand
shadows reveal the presence of ancient
in moments of repose and vulnerability; their
archaeological sites, industrial farm buildings,
fatigues are saturated in pastel, edited to match
and contemporary military infrastructure—
the placeless backdrops against which they are
forms that recede to invisibility in the glare
pasted: mountainous, white-capped, and floral.
of the full sun. Nine years on from the beginning of the Aloof though they are, Al-Ani’s images
revolution, as Sisi leads a brutal military regime
carry political charge. They challenge
in Egypt, the romance of these images feels
assumptions of the desert as barren and
remote, a little ill-fitting. They still critique the
lifeless. The perceived emptiness of Middle
masculine imaginary on which military power
Eastern landscape has been encouraged by
relies, and call attention to the performative
the Western film industry, which sets sci-
while sympathising with its lived reality. But
fi and military epics in the desert, a space
green-screened sunsets take us a long way from
threatening, alien, and ripe for discovery.
Cairo, and the early days of revolution.
Such associations are supported by colonial rhetoric: Zionism in Palestine claimed a ‘land
In Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige’s Wonder
without people, for a people without land.’
Beirut, idyllic images of a different kind break down under the pressure of the present. Tourist sites and
The perceived emptiness of Middle Eastern landscape has been encouraged by the Western film industry, which sets sci-fi and military epics in the desert, a space threatening, alien, and ripe for discovery As Lebanon enters its six month of civic action against its crippling political system, Wonder Beirut #14, The Statue of Riad Solh resonates loudest. Riad Solh square is the locus of the revolution that began in October 2019, in Beirut’s relentlessly gentrified Downtown, where highsecurity government facilities rub shoulders with max-luxe shopping. It is satisfying to see
Today, Al-Ani’s crisp black and white aerial
happy water-skiers, clustered on postcards of pre-
images recall the aesthetics of surveillance
civil war Lebanon, are here burned and swollen, their
and military speculation. In 2020 a bird’s eye
negatives stained with oily fingerprints. The works
view feels a long way from natural flight, more
collapse the clichéd image of Lebanon’s ‘Golden
reminiscent of a sniper plane or unmanned
Age’ of liberal values and Riviera sunshine, a myth
drone, infra-red footage of the kind played
that has long obscured the realities of inequality
1
on the news.
and sectarianism of Lebanon’s 1950s and 1960s.
upekkha.html
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facsimiles of this space blister and crackle, nostalgia buckle under an unseen force, heatcracked and acid-pocked, as these empty, elite streets fill again with people. See https://www.nerminehammam.com/
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Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, Wonder Beirut #2, General Weygand Street, Beirut, from the series Wonder Beirut: The Story of a Pyromaniac Photographer (1997-2006) C-type print mounted on alumnium, 105.5 x 70.5 cm
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Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, Wonder Beirut #2, General Weygand Street, Beirut, from the series Wonder Beirut: The Story of a Pyromaniac Photographer (1997-2006) C-type print mounted on alumnium, 105.5 x 70.5 cm
Jananne Al-Ani, Aerial III, from the film Shadow Sites II (2011) Pigment print on paper, 53.8 x 46 cm Art Fund Collection of Middle Eastern Photography at the V&A and the British Museum
Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, Wonder Beirut #14, Beirut, The Statue of Riad Solh, from the series Wonder Beirut: The Story of a Pyromaniac Photographer (1997-2006) C-type print mounted on alumnium, 105.5 x 70.5 cm
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REVIEW Images - Courtesy of the artists and Arsheef Gallery. Writer - Lizzy Vartanian Collier, writer and curator.
Shaima Al-Tamimi, So Close Yet So Far Away (2019) Archival pigment print
Arsheef Gallery: Turning the Light On Yemen’s first contemporary art gallery opens In November 2019, Arsheef, Yemen’s first
depiction—the only artist living outside of the
contemporary art gallery, opened its doors in
country—of children walking in front of a sign
Sana’a. When the gallery’s lights were switched
heading towards Yemen.
on, the works of five emerging artists became visible, illuminating the lives of a generation of
“What impacts me the most to create
Yemenis that you won’t see on the news.
photographs is the need within me to tell the truth and reality of my surroundings,” explains
Arsheef’s inaugural show Turning The Light
Abdulaziz, “Life in Yemen is rich of senses that
On, quite literally sought to bring a new
unfortunately have been out of sight for the past
narrative into the light. Operating primarily
years. As a Yemeni photographer it became my
via direct messaging on Instagram, the gallery
duty to change the stereotypes that Yemen is
that also has a physical space, acknowledges
flooded with recently. Even though Yemen is
that there is a powerful light telling us about
going through a tough time, there are a lot of
the world, through the backlit screens of our
interesting details and hidden beauty that we
smartphones. Acknowledging that yes, there
as photographers need to show to the world.”
is a war in Yemen, Asim Abdulaziz, Somaya
Mohsen agrees, adding: “I have this urgent
Abdualla, Ammar Baras, Bashayer Mohsen
feel to share a different narrative… to influence
and Shaima al-Tamimi remind their audience
others along the way to always be able to tell
that they are still young people, utilising art to
their side of the story.”
express their own emotions and feelings, fears and aspirations and even mental issues.
Through the medium of photography, Arsheef used their first exhibition to draw on the
The show covers a lot of ground, from Abdualla’s
photographic tradition of reflecting light to
tender photographs of children and family
create an image. The young gallery spun this
celebrations, to Mohsen’s images taken on the
into a metaphor for making the invisible visible
road between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, which
in Yemen, and subsequently, presenting a new
comment on a complicated dual identity few
art space and an emerging art scene to the
of us could comprehend. In a display of just a
wider world. Reminding us that the media’s
handful of artists work, Arsheef also comments
portrayal of the country is simplistic and
on a breadth of experiences, presenting artists
reductive, Arsheef introduces another narrative.
working from across Yemen. This is particularly
Al-Tamimi explains: “We all need to create work
powerful in Abdulaziz’s depiction of a man
that comes from the heart,” and Arsheef shines
peeling potatoes in the middle of destroyed
a light onto that heart.
buildings in Aden, and through Al-Tamimi’s
November - December 2019
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Somaya Abdualla, Fatima (2019) Archival pigment print
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Asim Abdulaziz, Untitled (2019) Archival pigment print
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Bashayer Mohsen, Home From Home (2019) Archival pigment print
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Amma Baras, Untitled (2019) Archival pigment print
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REVIEW Images - Courtesy of the artist. Writer - Katrina Weber Ashour, arts strategy and communication specialist.
Kani Kamil, Blue Blanket (2018) Mixed media, artist’s hair embroidered on printed fabric. Dimensions variable
Speaking Across Mountains: Kurdish Artists in Dialogue An evolving conversation across a cultural landscape For its second exhibition since it opened in
childhood memories of seeing a suspicious caravan
True to the Middle East Institute’s commitment to
Washington, DC this past September, the Middle
to describe the infamous Red Jail in northern Iraq,
informed discourse, the exhibition is paired with
East Institute (MEI) Art Gallery has stepped into
where scores of Kurdish dissidents were imprisoned,
panel discussions and film screenings expanding
a space until now rarely considered by US arts
tortured and killed during the Saddam era.
on Kurdish contemporary art and regional
institutions, with an exhibition of contemporary
politics. The show succeeds in its evocation of
Kurdish artists. Curated by the NYC-Cairo based
The personal narrative that Iraqi-Kurdish artist
an absence and hunger for more. Speaking Across
Heba Elkayal under the title Speaking Across
Kani Kamil explores in Blue Blanket (2018) likewise
Mountains leaves visitors with the surety that—just
Mountains: Kurdish Artists in Dialogue, the show
uses a manipulated photograph to evoke a larger
as the fragmented documentation in many of the
offers an intimate selection of work by ten artists.
story. Photos of female family members printed on
featured artists’ work is inherently incomplete—
Their approaches to form and material—film,
fabric are obscured by embroidery using the artist’s
there is more to the picture of contemporary
photography, painting, embroidery, sculpture,
own hair and hung under a generic advertisement
Kurdish art than that which is in their immediate
documentary, found object assemblages, etc—are
depicting a smiling blonde boy; instead of his
field of view.
as varied as their life stories. The featured artists
actual female family members her grandfather
come from or have roots in Kurdish communities
displayed an image of this anonymous white
across Iraq, Syria and Turkey. Together, they reflect
child at the family business. By defacing these
the inherently transnational Kurdish reality, at times
photographs with a physical intervention the artist
living as refugees, immigrants, and/or members of
critiques the alienation of women in society.
the diaspora in Lebanon, Canada, Italy, Sweden, the USA, the UK and Germany.
The Turkish-Kurdish artist Savas Boyraz documents sites of clashes between Kurdish rebels and the Turkish
Framed as a symbolic conversation across the
army in 2015-2016 in his series The State We Are In
prominent mountain ranges that dominate the
(2016-2019). Sweeping mountainous landscapes are
Kurdish cultural landscape, the experience is less
punctuated by discarded objects or buildings that
a matter of direct dialogue between artists than
bear silent witness to the state-sanctioned violence
that of an evolving, transnational conversation
that took the lives of over 300 civilians. The power of
between the artists and their ethnic identities,
a seemingly benign photograph to viscerally connect
their family histories, and their memories, as
audiences to historic violence against civilians is also
well as with the geopolitical boarders, conflicts,
reflected in the work of Turkish-Kurdish artist Şener
displacements and gendered expectations that
Özmen. In The Photograph (2018) he describes a
constrain the region and with the audience itself.
childhood photograph—the only remaining visual
6 December 2019 - 26 February 2020
The show succeeds in its evocation of an absence of contemporary work by Kurdish artists and hunger for more
imagery remaining from his early years—and the Iraqi-Kurdish artist Sherko Abbas’ mixed-media
impact the destruction of his personal history by
installation The Phantom Museum (2019) juxtaposes
Turkish governmental forces had on his memory
archival materials and photographs with ephemera and
and sense of self.
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REVIEW Images - Courtesy of the artist. Writer - Woodman Taylor, art historian and ethnomusicologist.
Devourless 04 (2008) Digital C print (series of 4), 40 x 60 cm Kharareef - The Seven Jinnat of Trucial States (2011) Digital C print (series of 7),150 x 125 cm each The Face (2009/2019) Digital video projection on gypson coated styrofoam, 200 x 130 cm
Alaa Edris: Unreal. Unseen. Untouched. Probing the ethereal in cultural narratives Ever since encountering Alaa Edris in her multiple
challenging boundaries, taking her own image
transformations into Seven Jinnat of the Trucial
and voice to where it was not meant to be present
States (2011), the artist’s ability to navigate
nor seen.
between realities interwoven with mythologies and other cultural narratives became visually
In her two-channel video The Consumer – The
visceral in her practice. How can an artist envision
Consumed (2014) Edris critiques the act of
herself as a creative composite, manipulating
consumption, with images of her cutting up
her own face to morph with an owl’s, thereby
dried bread mirrored with a video showing her
referencing an Emirati folktale about a woman
painfully eating pieces of bread until on the verge
becoming a jinn-owl upon the death of her son,
of tears. For the 14th Sharjah Biennial (2019) Edris
after which she haunts neighbourhoods with fly-
created Black Boxes of Observational Activities
bys searching for him? It is her ability to transcend
where, through a small hole viewers, as would
and manipulate realities that gives Edris’s
be voyeurs, witness mundane activities taking
projects an uncanny presence of the unseen,
place within Sharjah’s old city.
It is her ability to transcend and manipulate realities that gives Edris’s projects an uncanny presence of the unseen
the possibilities of envisioning a manipulated future while also excavating foundational beliefs
Current urban constructions as well as possible
in Emirati society.
future metropolitan configurations are the subject of Edris’ two large photographic projects. In
Unreal. Unseen. Untouched. Alaa Edris’ first solo
Reem Dream X Edris snuck into the subterranean
exhibition, at 1X1 Gallery in Dubai’s Alserkal
foundations of new projects being built on
Avenue, included a range of her projects from
Reem Island in Abu Dhabi. Her black and white
the 14 years since graduating in Fine Arts from
photographs reveal the not-so-beautiful and ever
the University of Sharjah. The exhibition includes
more revealing mooring on which the dreamlike
her work in photography, video and installation.
structures above are being built.
If to start at her beginnings, you will need to visit the washroom. In her installation The Great Puzzle
The most monumental work in the exhibition,
washroom users see an image of Edris reciting
The Face, takes Edris’ presence into three
from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as soon
dimensions. Using projections upon a huge
as they close their stall, on a mirror LCD mounted
wall mounted sculpture of the front part of her
on the door. This is the most recent iteration of
face, Edris comes alive, with her eyes gazing out
her very first art act while in arts school, where
and moving around the gallery. Moving between
she took mirrors with pasted text from Alice’s
real and unreal, seen and unseen worlds, Edris’
Adventures, placing them in both the men and
work inhabits the ethereal, touching us by not
women’s washroom stalls. In this, Idris was already
touching. 19 September - 31 October 2019
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REVIEW Images - Courtesy of the artists. Writer - Reem Farah, writer.
Mohamed Mahdy, Childhood, Alexandria, Egypt Next page: Ebrahim Elmoly, We Work, Eat and Swim Together, Egypt
Gulf Photo Plus: The Arab Street, Vol. II A closer look at al-shari in a compilation of images The Arab Street, Vol. II at Gulf Photo Plus 2019
the distance to the inaccessible but approximate,
Community Exhibition raises the fundamental
the exhibit highlights how street photography
question: what is the Arab street, anyway? As the
provides access to the inaccessible. It further raises
exhibition designer Raz Hansrod explained, the
the question of access explicitly by questioning the
primary curatorial definition came from more than
photographers’ positionality in a given environment.
700 photographic submissions to the open call before
Two contrasting photos highlight the photographer’s
selection process was made. As an educational space,
perspective in the subject’s presence. In the first, a
the exhibition was curated based on subgenres of
seemingly headless man, his back hunched over and
street photography with accompanying texts that
neck bowed, leaves you wondering if he was staged
speak to the content and compilation of the photos.
or in a solitary meditative state. In the second, a boy
It pays careful attention to each photo’s significance
who holds a vulnerable but bold gaze, as if to test the
within the genre of street photography as well as
photographer’s gaze, begs the question of whether
their unlikely links to one another. For example, along
the photographer and the subject know one another.
one wall of the exhibit, the horizon stretches from the coast of the Arabian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea.
While the discussion of access is relevant to
On an adjacent wall, a closer look reveals the studied
street photography, it is pertinent to present-day
and serendipitous ‘rule of thirds’ across photos from
conversations about the Arab street. In the Arabic
Alexandria, Egypt to Rabat, Morocco.
language ‘the street’ or al-shari has become synonymous with spaces of revolt, remembering,
While the exhibit does not attempt to propose
reclamation and relearning. Street photography lifts
a definition of ‘The Arab Street,’ the collective
the curtain, inviting us to do so. As a post-colonial
compilation of photos reveal truths about the gender,
space, the Arab street is in conversation with a
race and class of the Arab street. Street photographs
contentious history of access, and of who sees and
from across the Gulf make visible the migrant labor
tells its stories. Residents and visitors are held to
demographic and their intimate relationship with
acknowledge the orientalist gaze and its framing
the street as early and daily commuters, or buyers
narratives so that the scenes we observe and stories
and sellers of chai.
we tell can counter these narratives. One photo in the exhibit does so by challenging notions of masculinity
Featuring photos taken from amateur and
in the region through a group of male friends dancing
professional photographers using any device from
in their spirit of collective elation. The Arab Street, Vol.
the iPhone to medium format studio cameras, the
II successfully reminds us of this space of imagination,
exhibit showcases the accessibility of photography
possibility and reality at our fingertips.
as an art medium. More generally, as a photo from the besieged Gaza brings visual insights and bridges
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18 September 2019 – 20 January 2020
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‘the street’ or al-shari has become synonymous with spaces of revolt, remembering, reclamation and relearning
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REVIEW Images - Courtesy of the artists and Sharjah Art Foundation. Writer - Cecilia Ruggeri, art historian and curator.
Farah Al Qasimi, Dream Soup (2019) HD video, colour, sound, 7 min 26 sec, video still 00002
Sharjah Art Foundation: March Project 2019 Rethinking cultural significance and architectural heritage In 2019, the sixth annual March Project, the
Qasimi worked with perfumers in Sharjah to
Sharjah Art Foundation’s annual series of
develop unisex scents that are diffused into the
commissions, culminated in a group exhibition
room during the film. The artist composed the
of works by Emirati artists Asma Belhamar, Farah
film’s soundtrack specifically for the video, which
Al Qasimi, May Rashed and Saeed Almadani, as
highlights the selection of perfume as a sensual
well as Saudi artist Filwa Nazer and Colombian
and profoundly personal experience, further
artist Mario Santanilla.
revealing how our choice of scents is linked to our desires and intended presentation of self.
Spanning contemporary topics from the West Asian cultural and social fabric to the
In her installation, The Edifice of Sba, Belhamar
relationships between architecture, modern
juxtaposes the concepts of compressing
construction and the body, the exhibition gives a
time and prolonging visual memory from the
broad sketch of Emirati history and an argument
perspective of a moving car. Rooted in the
for thinking about objects as storytellers and
tradition of the moving image reminiscent of
links to the past. Particularly, it emphasises
Bill Viola’s works, Belhamar contrasts painterly
video art and features two installations by
images of the shimmering mountain landscape
Emirati women artists Farah Al Qasimi and
against the sharp façade of the iconic Toyota
Asma Belhamar.
building, one of Dubai’s first residential towers. Barely audible in the film is Khaliji music, typical
In her site-specific film Dream Soup, Al Qasimi
of the Gulf region, which pays homage to time,
pays homage to Sharjah as the location of
as well as to personal and collective memory,
the majority of United Arab Emirates-based
while questioning the notion of afterimages and
perfume distilleries. As a recurring topos in the
expressing how ephemeral human memories can
artist’s practice, perfume is associated with her
be. Belhamar conveys this idea by experimenting
fascination with consumer culture. In the same
with light and moving images that give her film
manner as her stage-set photographs, which lure
a transcendent quality.
the viewer with sensuous, almost voluptuous
The film, which follows the life cycle of a fragrance, is far from mere reportage and focuses on playful elements such as the clichéd names of fragrances
exploring the conflicting appearances of natural
palettes and patterns, that reveal emotions with
For Belhamar, belonging to the UAE is like ‘living
landscapes and architecture. Belhamar’s work
an ingenuous directness, Dream Soup bears
in a time lapse;’ the passage of time and the
incorporates the conceptual metaphors of the
witness to the historical importance of perfumes
sprawl of development are intensely surreal.
medium and the perceptions of the ancient and
and scented oils in the UAE. The film, which
‘Next to the crowded industrial spectacle, the
modern, the Eastern and Western, which has
follows the life cycle of a fragrance, is far from
natural landscape has still kept its emptiness,’
informed her life.
mere reportage and focuses on playful elements
she states. She began investigating the
such as the clichéd names of fragrances. Al
geological and cultural tectonics of her country,
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Asma Belhamar, The Edifice of Sba (2019) Wood structure, video projection. Dimensions variable
REVIEW Images - Courtesy of the artists and King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture. Writer - Kevin Jones, writer and educator.
Taysir Batniji, GH0809 (2011) 20 C-prints (Duratrans) on translucent glossy paper, plexiglass, lighted frames, 30 x 38 cm (each)
Ithra: Mara’ina (Our Mirrors) Triggering reflections in this group exhibition at Funoon Gallery Every mirror, like every image, is interpretive.
In the former camp, works like Bahrain-born Faisal
gauge how their own experiences reflect back
As mounds of theoretical literature expound,
Samra’s People in Context (2019), one of three
from those of their photographic counterparts.
‘reality’ is consistently distorted in any gesture to
Ithra-commissioned bodies of work for Mara’ina,
‘represent’ it. And rarely are such representations
memorialises the quotidian of Al-Hasa residents,
While many works explore the emotional
innocent: even the ‘purest’ of documentary
a town in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province. The
contours of ‘home’—Monica Fritz’s Yemen
gestures smacks of a position, an inclination, an
documentary impulse feels imbued with both
Interiors (1994), Héla Ammar’s Family Portraits
intended effect. The mirror, like the photographic
ingenuous nostalgia (the artist’s family originated
(2012), Hicham Benohoud’s 30 Families (2002)
image, is wound up in an endless feedback loop:
there) and pointed promotion. Samra tenderly
and, to a degree Taysir Batniji’s GH0809
we plot and (re)assess the gap between our lived
trumpets the cultural, commercial and humanistic
(2011)—few match the emotional blows
reality and its allegedly faithful projection.
importance of the place—in one shot, an inter-
levelled by Hrair Sarkissian’s two-channel video
generational pair of traditional bisht tailors smile
Homesick (2014). In the gap between the artist
In its role as the unmistakable metaphor of
from their shop floor—snaring the Eastern Province
exhaustingly sledgehammering an off-screen
Mara’ina (Our Mirrors)—the third exhibition to
audience in his double-barrelled embrace.
object, on one channel, and the steady yet
inhabit the King Abdulaziz Center for World
invisible destruction of a scale-model replicating
Culture’s Funoon Gallery since the institution’s
Another documenter of the urban landscape,
his parents’ Damascene apartment building, on
opening—the mirror abounds. On the walls,
Canadian-American photographer Robert Polidori,
the other, resides the anguish of absence and
the catalogue, even on guest passes—at every
one of three Western artists in the show, engages
diasporic disconnection.
marketing-inflected turn we are invited to reflect.
in a more formal practice of portraiture: alongside
Yet the complexity of reflection resides precisely
‘denominational’ family portraits from the mid-
Amidst these strategies of identification
in its link to agency.
1990s like Muslim Family, Damascus, Syria (1994)
and empathy-building stand two works
and Christian Family, Damascus, Syria (1994),
foregrounding the very display of the self
Reflection in Mara’ina seems to travel two distinct
hangs the canny Saudi Tourists in Jerash, Jordan
for the camera. Akram Zaatari’s The Script
routes. One is in lockstep with the show’s subtitle,
(1996). Countering Samra’s gesture of Saudi
(2018) shows a Muslim father praying as
Our People, Our Society, Our Homes, designating
looking within, Polidori captures Saudis abroad. A
his two feisty sons clamber all over him,
at once the documentary gaze interpreting these
trio of self-conscious men striking stiff poses—an
attempting to break his devout concentration.
subjects, and the built-in gesture of first-person-
outstretched arm clumsily poised on a Roman ruin
Re-enacting a supposed sub-genre of YouTube
“Everything today exists to end in a photograph,” goes the often
Mara’ina has a challenging task: introduce contemporary art to a
plural inclusion: the works’ intent is tethered
here, a camera dangling knee-level there—is joined
videos in which the spiritual salah moment is
quoted remark by Susan Sontag in her On Photography (1977), and
society not necessarily fluent in appreciating it, while exhibiting the
to outcomes of viewer identification, affinity
by an animated woman sporting abaya and niqab.
documented amid the everyday collisions of
how aptly it applies to Michealangelo Pistoletto’s triptych Persone
intellectual and curatorial standards of an internationally prominent
and empathy. Indeed, in the words of Mara’ina
the domestic space, the work’s final minutes
in communicazione (2019), one the artist’s so-called mirror paintings
cultural institution. Grounded largely in strategies of inclusion and
curator Candida Pestana, the exhibition strives
Similarly, Tasneem Alsultan’s series Saudi Love
transpose the characters to a stage, acting
(actually silkscreen on mirror-finished stainless steel) commissioned
identification, the show succeeds less in flatly mirroring a society (in
to ‘trigger memories.’ The second is a more
Stories (2019) navigates the gulf between viewer
to rows of empty seats. Delivering a critical
for Mara’ina. Absorbed in their phones or preoccupied with snapping
its widest sense), than in leading viewers to fathom the gap between
critical zoom-out, sidestepping outcomes of
and subject: women watching women grappling
swipe at such modes of performance, the
selfies, the Saudi nationals represented in the work become the
themselves and their own projections.
viewer identification in favour of a more analytical
with the imposed reliance on men, the fanfare
work seems to imply that the self is ultimately
immaterial companions of viewers who document not only the work
problematizing of self-representation.
of weddings, the collapse of ill-made marriages
unvaryingly scripted.
but, involuntarily or not, themselves in the work.
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17 December, 2019 – 4 April, 2020
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Hicham Benohoud, from the series 30 Families (2002) Analog photography, 50 x 60 cm
Héla Ammar, Family Portrait I, II, III, IV (2012) Digital photography, 40 x 60 cm
Courtesy of the artist and Loft Art Gallery, Morocco
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REVIEW Images - Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Tanit, Beirut. Writer - Stella N. Peisch, researcher and consultant.
Charlotte at 11, from the series Becoming (2012) Beirut, Lebanon Alia, 9, from the series L’Enfant Femme (2011) Bourj El Barajneh Refugee Camp, Beirut, Lebanon
Rania Matar: An Image and Her Woman Complex dynamics of evolving feminine identities In January 2020, an exhibition opened at the
her, staring off into the future, unaware of the
American University of Beirut (AUB) of Rania
daughter she would one day have and pose in
Matar’s photography. The exhibit, entitled
front of this photograph of her. Another image is
An Image and Her Woman, is comprised of
of Alia, photographed in Bourj El Barajneh refugee
photographs from five different series that Matar
camp in Lebanon. Alia is photographed in front
has been working on over the years. The images,
of a pink door, dressed in a cartoon tank-top.
all of females ranging from pre-puberty to mature
While she is a slight girl of nine years old, etched
women, call into focus complex relationships of
across her face is an expression of calm agency
intimacy, privacy and space.
and confidence that seems to extend past her age.
Matar, a Lebanese mother of daughters who is
The images in the exhibit all remind the viewer
raising her family in the United States, photographs
of the multifaceted nature of girl-/woman-hood:
her subjects in both the United States and
as a daughter, mother, child, adult all at once.
Lebanon. The images acutely capture privacy and
Matar wordlessly manages to capture the immense
intimacy simultaneously, calling into question the
power and potential of the transition from girl to
dichotomy between the two. As the photographer,
woman, and her ability to capture such moments
Matar has been invited into spaces where these
of transformation through a medium that usually
two exist in unison—not only as she photographs
conveys stillness is emblematic of her talent.
girls at their homes and in their bedrooms, but also as she captures dynamics between daughters
20 January - 15 February 2020
and mothers, as well as between girls and their changing relationship to their bodies. The photograph of a girl named Charlotte in Beirut captures this in a particularly powerful way. In the photo, Charlotte at 11, she is sitting perched between two large maroon pillows in a striped tank top. Behind her there is a black-and-white photograph of a woman resting in profile in a similarly-striped bathing suit. This black-and-white photograph is of Charlotte’s mother, taken years before. The photograph captures a temporal
The images acutely capture privacy and intimacy simultaneously, calling into question the dichotomy between the two
transition: of a young girl, with her mother as not-yet-a-mother captured in an image behind
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IN CONVERSATION Images - Courtesy of TINTERA. Writer - Yasmine El Rashidi, writer.
Attaya Gaddis, Untitled (n.d.), from silver gelatin negative
Zein Khalifa and Heba Farid: TINTERA Gallery The photography scene in Cairo TINTERA is a newly opened photographic
Zein, who is based in London, has worked as
consultancy with a gallery space in Cairo and an
an independent consultant and handled sales
office in London. Its aim is to raise the profile of
at HackelBury Fine Art. A few years ago we
both contemporary and historical photography in
began talking about ways in which we could
and of Egypt through curated exhibitions, events
safeguard what we saw as a haemorrhaging of
and research projects. It represents artists from
our photographic heritage. We were hearing
Egypt and elsewhere, emerging and established,
stories of families throwing away family photos for
with Egypt being the common inspiration in their
lack of an appropriate institution to deposit them
work, while also managing significant private
in or even an understanding of their importance.
photograph collections and advising on the
ZK: In many other countries there are important
acquisition and sales of photographic art.
museums dedicated to photography and our
Egyptian novelist and writer Yasmine El Rashidi
initial goal was to set one up in Egypt. Travellers
spoke with co-founders Zein Khalifa and Heba
and photographers documented this country
Farid, both photographers and artists in their own
from the moment the camera was invented so
with the structure of the space at all. Just a
right, asking them about their insights on the space
imagine a museum that offers you entrée to that
year ago this was a family home so I think
and the vision they have for it.
particular history of the medium. But that’s the
the first thing you notice is that this is not
‘big dream’ and in order to get there we first need
a typical gallery set up. We hope it feels
Yasmine El Rashidi (YR): Am I correct in saying this
to start with developing a deeper understanding
inviting.
is the first fine-art gallery in Cairo dedicated to
and appreciation of the role of photography in
HB: We’re constantly receiving young and
photography? How did this come to be?
Egypt, hence Tintera.
established artists with bodies of work that
Zein Khalifa (ZK): As far as we know we’re the only
A few years ago we began talking about ways in which we could safeguard what we saw as a hemorrhaging of our photographic heritage
have rarely been seen. Without this kind
to work on older collections and it’s also where we carry all our artists’
the power relations in the construct of masculinity. Bryony Dunne spent
gallery in Egypt at the moment that focuses solely
Y R : T h a t e x p l a i n s a l o t ; i t d o e s n ’t f e e l
of space, an inspiring space, that wouldn’t
portfolios.
several years living in Egypt exploring the legacies of colonialism. Nabil
on photography. Of course there are galleries
l i k e a t r a d i t i o n a l g a l l e r y, a n d c e r t a i n l y
have happened. We didn’t want a traditional
HF: Also, in the ‘preservation room’ we have a cabinet with many of
Boutros has widely exhibited abroad but is hardly recognised in Egypt
that showcase photographers and artists working
not a ‘photographic consultancy,’ as per
white cube per se and yet the display of
the historical photographs and negatives we hold and preserve. I am
even though his work predominantly deals with his relationship to his
with photography but they also show painting,
your website.
photography demands a certain quality of
grateful for the training in preservation and collection management I
country. On display here are works from Boutros’ Nocturnes series. It’s
sculpture etc. We’re interested in elevating the
HF: We hesitated a lot with that description.
light and precision.
have received over the years, that began in 2005 but became more
been wonderful seeing people react to these images. They are nostalgic
status of photography in Egypt and encouraging
We’ve been told it feels more like an atelier,
technically focused through regional initiatives like MEPPI (Middle East
and capture everyday scenes that perhaps are overlooked by others.
an appreciation of the medium. We’re also keen
which is how we maybe think of it too.
ZK: The ‘gallery’ space is what welcomes the
Photograph Preservation Initiative). That exposure to best practices has
Xenia Nikolskaya, a Cairo-based Russian/Swedish artist who spent six
visitor and where we hold our exhibitions.
guided our own practices in our care and handling of both historical and
years photographing the neglected ‘cosmopolitan architecture’ of Egypt
on developing an archive of works made here. Heba Farid (HF): We’re both photographers
YR: Atelier! Precisely. A place where things
This current show includes work by over
contemporary photographs, in creating our displays and in preserving
in her series Dust (2006-2012). Many of the buildings Nikolskaya has
ourselves and have been working in various
are made, ideas are born, rather than just
13 photographers. Some have shown
collections we safeguard.
beautifully captured tell a rich history of the country but are now sadly
aspects of the field for over 20 years. In Cairo,
finished works displayed. Can you elaborate
internationally and some have never shown
I participated in setting up CiC (Contemporary
a little on the different aspects of Tintera.
before. We also have two other rooms; what
YR: Can you tell us a little about some of the artists in your current show.
Image Collective) in 2004 and worked for CultNat
ZK: We set up Tintera in an apartment of a
we call the ‘preservation room’ and an office
ZK: Ibrahim Ahmed is a young Egyptian mixed media artist. Through
YR: It is transformative, to walk into here. Once you enter, its breath-
(Bibliotheca Alexandrina) from 2008 until 2016.
residential building and have not interfered
space. In the preservation room we are able
staged, studio self-portraits Ahmed works on photo collages that examine
taking, bright, expansive and meticulously curated.
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being demolished so this is really quite an important body of work.
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Nabil Boutros, 6th October Brigade, from the series Egyptian Nocturnes (2003) Silver gelatin print, 33 x 47 cm Barry Iverson, Afternoon at the Museum, from the series The Tour (2014-19) Hand painted archival pigment print
Ibrahim Ahmed, Untitled, from the series You Don’t Recognize What You Don’t Know (2018) Unique chromogenic photographic collage and mixed media, 49 x 29 cm
ZK: I think people have been excited about seeing different representations of familiar places and ideas. Barry Iverson’s exhibition The Tour, really challenged viewers’ expectations of photography and the representation of Egypt in a very fun way. HF: Exactly. Part of building an appreciation for the medium as ‘art’ is about re-contextualizing it, introducing multiple ways to see, and to enculture people to photographic art practices. YR: Your current exhibition has archival works, which aren’t for sale? ZK: Yes, some of the archival works you see here come from the Attaya Gaddis collection. Gaddis was a photographer who apprenticed under Antonio Beato in the very late 19th century. He is considered one of the earliest Egyptian photographers and we are working on making his relatively unknown story and archive of photographs more accessible to a larger public. YR: Is there a market for photography in Egypt? ZK: Egypt was once an important center and source for the commercial photography market. At the moment mostly people from abroad are collecting this work, although we are starting to build a local collectors’ base. Most of the work has rarely been seen and is very affordable to collect. So, for those in the know, there’s a sense of being at the beginning of something exciting.
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IN CONVERSATION Images - Courtesy of the artist and Ayyam Gallery, Dubai. Writer - Dr. Effat Fadag, curator and educator.
Performance #19, Triptych #1 from the series Distorted Reality (2007) Lamda print, 100 x 133.33 cm
Faisal Samra: Distorted Reality Improvising performative intermediation—interview excerpts In his artistic process, Faisal Samra allows his
FS: I am always interacting with the events that
experimentive interactions with various media
surround me in one way or another. This is in
determine the ultimate final form of his work. In
addition to my pure artistic emotions, which guide
many ways it is his mediation through media that
me to work on various artistic projects with social,
determines the resulting visual message. Effat Fadag
critical, political and geopolitical statements.
interviews Samra, who discusses his use of different
These works depend mainly on the event; it may
media within his artistic process.
be in a specific event that had an effect on me to produce an artwork or start working on a project
Effat Fadag (EF): Can you tell us more about yourself
such as Distorted Reality (2005). During that time,
and your artistic background?
I was interested in the distortion in the media as a
Faisal Samra (FS): My mother is Bahraini and my father
topic—the political propaganda in everything we
is Saudi. In the 80s, I acquired my Bachelor’s degree
see in the media, the distorted reality that affects
from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts
our lives—and I wanted to address this issue in my
in Paris and have been practicing art since 1992.
work. I started working with digital photography,
For me, studying in Paris was very important and
video and performance. This included various
influenced me a lot. Merging yourself in a different
media and led to my second project: CDR,
culture, coexisting with a culture different than
Construction Distraction Re-construction.
yours adds to your experience and practice which I
During that time, I was interested in the distortion in the media as a topic—the political propaganda in everything we see in the media, the distorted reality that affects our lives—and I wanted to address this issue in my work
benefited from. Since the 70s I have advocated that
EF: What are the references, ideas and your own
fine art colleges in Saudi Arabia should address our
concepts that evolve around your work?
culture and historical background. So, if we want to
FS: All of my projects have political, critical, or
time, your artistic execution is subtly sophisticated and
affected by the loss of the used medium, this means that it does not need
This new body of work is related to emotions—in its most innocent
establish fine art colleges we need to have a balance
other dimensions. As a visual artist, I rely on
not forced. How do you explain this?
that extra burden of an additional medium. Therefore, the project dictates
condition—and passion specifically. In order to allow these emotions
between our historical background and our civilization
visual pleasure which is my goal in ever project. I
FS: I always say that it is not the media that defines
the media and the media does not dictate the theme of the project.
to flourish, it is necessary to use the cognitive process moving from the
in parallel with the history of European art practices.
always start with a visual experimentation which
the project, but the project that determines the
The colleges need to graduate artists with identities
then develops into other layers and additional
type of media that you use. I started using the
I always work with this simple method. With the Reality of a Warrior, I saw that
experimented with abstract emotions—unlike joy or sadness—they are
that are distinct from European artists. I started to
dimensions regardless if it is social, or has political
video long before the digital era, during the end
the work required a more complex use of media, so, I used digital, performance,
emotions that relate to the form of the medium being worked with. It is
make art when I was a child, and first opened my
dimensions, etc. Sometimes the projects choose
of the 90s. When my idea is ready I ask myself
video, etc. However, in the project that I am working on right now, I started
an improvisation process that creates the relationship between you and
eyes! I was drawing everywhere, on the walls and
you, you don’t choose the project.
how will I execute it? Or what is the best way to
with drawing, sketching and moved to painting, sculpting and photography.
the medium, such as charcoal or colour. I improvise with these materials
present this project? What are the media that I
Artists should allow their projects to dictate the medium that they work with.
without thinking. The material is purely emotional, until the process of
during school and I still draw now.
clarity. When you see a work of art and the idea is there, you can isolate the
painting and sculpting and photography.
medium used in that project, and if the project stands alone and was not
unconscious to the conscious, a process of thinking through the mind. I
EF: Faisal, you are considered an artist who breaks
can use which are crisp, clear and to the point?
EF: What are the topics you’re interested in working
traditional boundaries and artistic classifications,
In my work I love to be austere as much as
EF: Can you further describe the latest project you are working on?
interact with charcoal in the painting, drawing to embody movement. I
on,—references and concepts that evolve around
using various media as arbiter for your own artistic
possible, and this means the medium has to help
FS: The Thriving Emotions project is my most recent body of work and is
then use colour to embody the air and sculpted forms. In the resulting
your work? And what are the topics that provoke
experimentation. This gives your work and the subject
present my idea. In my opinion, when you work
a purely experimental project that depends on actual experience. I started
images, the layout embodies movement while the oil painting embodies
your art which distinguish yourself from other artists?
you are addressing different perspectives. At the same
on a project or you see an artwork, you expect
the process sketching with charcoal, then I was propelled to work with oil
the emptiness of a void.
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consciousness starts to form which is refined from escaped emotions. I
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Performance #19, Triptych #2 from the series Distorted Reality (2007) Lamda print, 100 x 133 cm;
From top row: Performance #13,Triptych #1 from the series Distorted Reality (2007) Lambda print, 40 x 53.5 cm; Performance #11, Triptych #2 from the series Distorted Reality (2007) Lambda print, 80 x 107 cm; Performance #19, Triptych #2 from the series Distorted Reality (2007) Lamda print, 100 x 133 cm; Performance #17, Triptych #1 from the series Distorted Reality (2007) Lamda print, 40 x 53.5 cm
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Distorted Reality #3 (2007) Digital photograph, 107 x 82 cm
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Distorted Reality #3 (2007) Digital photograph, 107 x 82 cm
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IN CONVERSATION Images - Courtesy of the artist. Writer - Veeranganakumari Solanki, curator and writer.
Between Illusion and reality…is where I stand, from the series Mood Diary (2012) Digital photograph
Marwah AlMugait: Process and Practice Tracing motion while exploring the lens Marwah AlMugait and I met at the Delfina
authority of the voice. It taught me the importance
Foundation in London, over the summer of 2019,
of revisiting and responsibility.
when our residencies overlapped. AlMugait was there for a one month residency, and I was half-way
VS: This is the time you made Mood Diary (2012),
through my six month term as the International
the work that won you an award during your
Brooks Fellow at Tate Modern in the curatorial
Masters programme.
and photography department. While days were
MA: I wanted to move beyond border-defined
spent on the ground, working and researching
dialogues, into a narrative we all identify with in
for our individual practice, the evenings and
personal spaces, but never speak about as global
weekends were usually at the Delfina Foundation,
citizens. Mood Diary broadly relates to the increase
our home in London that nurtured family ties
in mental health patients, with a focus on bipolar
and conversations between the team and fellow
disorders through the narrative of Mona, who
residents. It was during these times, that we
braved sharing her personal space with me for this
found ourselves immersed in conversations on
project. Empty spaces recur here and in my other
our merging research of the expanding nature of
works, leaving subliminal messages for the viewer
photography through practice and text. The ways
to interpret as nostalgia, intimacy or as personal
in which AlMugait has explored the lens alongside
narratives. Encountering the ‘topic’ for the first
photography, video and performance has been
time, I struggled with translating the topic into
almost revolutionary.
the visual, with the imagery holding more than just identity. It drew me to move beyond comfort
Veeranganakumari Solanki (VS): As an
and into the representation of the unseen and
independent artist, practicing in Riyadh, how did
making the familiar unfamiliar.
a Masters in Photojournalism (2012) expand your practice of exploring the medium and rawness of
VS: Temporality, performance, residues of live-
photography with your subject matter. Marwah AlMugait (MA): It was a quantum leap, and
While days were spent on the ground, working and researching for our individual practice, the evenings and weekends were usually at the Delfina Foundation, our home in London that nurtured family ties and conversations between the team and fellow residents
VS: This brings me to the idea of merging disciplines and media
VS: This act of arrival and departure resonates with Albunt (2019). Could
in your work, that undo expected ways of thinking.
you talk about this work that appears remarkably different from the rest of
MA: It is so important to have the freedom to experiment without limiting
your practice and how it connects with your most recent video installation
your artistic language to a singular medium. This allows one to push all
I Lived Once (2020).
other boundaries without hesitation. With the idea of space, there is the
MA: Both these works were commissioned by the Saudi Arts Council. Albunt,
notion of symbology, where I am trying to provide, rather than provoke.
my first public art and 3D mapping project, I wanted to highlight the history and structure of the Ottoman Empire that carried with it stories of the sea and Haj
VS: You also performed twice in 2017—once alone during a residency
pilgrims. The idea of collectivity and performance could be looked at as a link
theatre are crucial when experiencing your work.
in New York, the second time with a group of performers for We Were.
between the two works. 3D mapping is performative in terms of layering stories
MA: After a pause in my work in 2014, I started
This has in a way given you the sense of freedom to know what to expect
and progressing narratives. In, I Lived Once, a work that responds to biomimicry,
turning point for me to have more substance for the
experimenting with ways to explore myself and
and feel with your performers. It is an awareness of space and emotion
the tree becomes the lens for the viewer, and eventually the viewer through the
image itself, compared to my earlier experience
the camera with the limited resources available
that translates into the experience for the viewer as well.
camera becomes the attacker. The response of performers instantly becomes
with commercial photography. My perceptions on
then for my solo show, Sigh (2015). Oudah (2015),
MA: Photography and the camera is a pure medium that becomes the
a psychological and emotional collective to manifest connections with nature.
the media of photography changed as research
is an attempt to visualise a healing process that
spoken words. The lens, for me, is a tool to trace
eye of the viewer. I needed to feel this collectiveness and energy-field
and awareness became the core of my work with
is layered with an invisible emotional journey,
motion in ways that make the viewer inseparable
with my performers, which I could only do by pushing boundaries and
VS: You are a perfectionist by nature, and while you do allow for ‘immaculate
a consciousness and responsibility of my subject
childhood memories and unanswered questions.
from the camera. I work with the idea of pushing
putting myself in new territories. It was an intense but required moment
risk,’ you also like to be in complete control of the result. Now that you feel
and our surrounding environments. Documentary
Dance and theatre, to which I have been
the angle and eye of the lens, even today, where
of being in front of the camera myself in We Were. The stories of arrival
you have exhausted every possible way of exploring the lens, what is next?
photography is a very long and intimate process
attracted for years, found their way into my work
it is performance that best captures the essence
and departure from members of this performance make their way to
MA: Maybe back to a single angle video, as a reflex that goes back to the
that involves building relationships and a mutual
as expressions and body language, rather than
of the crucial emotional intimacy.
me even today.
stillness of my constructed frame as a photographer.
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I Lived Once (2020) Video installation. Video stills
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I Lived Once (2020) Video installation; Video stills
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PORTFOLIO Images - Courtesy of the artist. Writer - Suzy Sikorski, art historian and writer.
The Broken Dream II (2017) Next page: The Broken Dream (2017) Page 66-67: From the series RUGLIFE (2016) Photo paper encased in plexiglass, 160cm x 130 cm
Ali Cha’aban: Staging ‘Satellite Culture’ Forging new Arab identities and aesthetics ‘The contemporary art scene has raised the bar for
photoshoot; instead they focus on elements of
emerging artists and designers to create tributes
culture rather than just pleasing aesthetic visuals.
to their culture with an evolving state of mind. I always say that I’m super-proud of my generation.
Well known for his comic strip scenes of
Young Arabs have been creating and producing
bruised Stan Lee superheroes superimposed
things that have seriously put us on the map. We
onto rugs, with kitschy artwork titles derived
have been able to forge an identity for ourselves
from famous rap lyrics, Ali is also involved
and an ever-growing aesthetic that defines us.
in collaborative fashion and conceptual
The Arab art scene is slowly generating its own
photography including Saudi photographers
notion of the Arab Renaissance, paving a visual
Abdullah Al Shehri and Rayan Nawawi along
identity that will be discoursed in decades to come
with designer Mohammed Khoje. Seemingly
both academically and historically.’ Ali Cha’aban.
quotidian, confident everyday poses turn into a bit unusual, multi-layered compositions,
Cha’aban has also channeled his interdisciplinary work into collaborating with international brands such as Nike and Vogue Arabia in fashion campaigns and advertisements that have had a global impact
Ali Cha’aban is an emerging conceptual artists
reflecting on the timeless qualities of
and collaborative photographer from the GCC
Arabs along with the fetishisms of the new
who is capturing a 1980s and 90s Arab ‘satellite
generation; a man in a thobe is crouched
culture’ generation that is exploring how to
within a fridge (Nike x Vice Satellite Culture
cultivate an Arab identity caught between
Campaign, 2017) or a model riding on a
global pop culture and the traditional cultural
retro-scooter behind a graffiti embellished
sphere. He has been exposed to change and
carpet in the middle of a street (The Arabic
Striking in composition and staging, The
up-rootedness since childhood, as a Kuwaiti-
Dream, 2017).
Arabic Dream series is a dynamic collaboration
raised, Lebanese growing up during the Iraqi
between photographer Rayan Nawawi and
invasion of Kuwait who is now living in Jeddah
Ringing in his debut show Technicolor at La
Mohammed Khoje of Hindamme featuring
that now is a burgeoning artistic scene for young
Cantine du Faubourg in 2017, the title lays
Khoje’s Fall 2017 collection that readily
creatives. Studying anthropology, Cha’aban and
the groundwork for the themes he chose
showcases Arab culture motifs such as the sadu
defiance and confidence. In his RUGLIFE series (2016) the model
In 2007, during Nike and Vice Magazine Summer of White campaign,
his works live in a state of permanent nostalgia and
to explore. These are found within the rug
print—the geometric design embroidered by
Sofiane Si Merabet, commonly known as the ‘The Confused Arab’, is
Nike approached the artist and Rayan Nawawi who produced the
cultural reverie for a glorified past. He incorporates
and then in his rough and highly saturated
Bedouins. Simultaneously within this chaotic
blinded by a rug over his face; behind a backdrop of a dilapidated
Satellite Culture campaign using the Airmax97 model. They revisited
research into his cultural observations, including
aesthetics that resonates with a millennial,
scenes, we are transported to this dystopic
wall painted in deep pastels. Immediately we are drawn to the textiles
the past with the model wearing a thobe, connecting the past with the
semiotics and Islamic principles, on works that
TV generation plugged into dreamy nights of
Arabian Disneyland, The Arabic Dream is
and patterns of the rug, but at the same time become blinded by and
future in a minimalist approach harkening back to the 90s era. In light
trigger new debates relevant to global politics
timeless vintage movies from the repetiore of
written in Arabic on the carpets, a melange
constricted by its traditions.
of this shoot, Cha’aban did a photoshoot of social media influencer
and social realities. These are explored through
Arab golden cinema. Cha’aban later exhibited
of three creative minds in different fields
his interactive installations, street and fashion
in the Sharjah Islamic Arts Festival, Abu Dhabi
reflecting on their own version of how to
Cha’aban has also channeled his interdisciplinary work into
photography and bespoke clothing pieces. His
Art Fair, Beirut Art Fair, 21,39 in Jeddah, Hafez
incorporate the traditional with timelessness,
collaborating with international brands such as Nike and Vogue in
photographs are much deeper than a look-book
Gallery, Jeddah and H Gallery, Paris.
while models embody a mix between absence,
fashion campaigns and advertisements that have had a global impact.
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Amy Roko in a niqab through a collaboration with Abdullah Al Shehri, creating a mockup campaign for Nike.
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From the series RUGLIFE (2016) Photo paper encased in plexiglass, 160cm x 130 cm
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Hindamme 2 (2017)
Photography “mock-campaign” for Nike (2018) Page 70-71: Photography for Vogue Arabia (2018)
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PORTFOLIO Images - Courtesy of the artist. Writer - Woodman Taylor, art historian and ethnomusicologist.
Mā Lam Tabkī (Unless weeping) from the series Silsila (2014) Archival print, 70 X 100 cm Following page: Fatnis al-Jazirah (Fantasy Island), from the series Silsila (2014) Archival print, 70 x 100 cm
Sama Alshaibi: Reorienting Our Gaze Choreographies of an art practice
Alshaibi becomes an activist advocating for a reorientation of her viewers’ gaze while creating new resonance generated through images of her staged performances
Through exposing her own subjectivity, both in terms
North Africa and West Asia. These then become the
of her multiple points-of-view as an Iraqi-Palestinian
staging for her own performative acts, from lyrically
woman practicing in the United States but also in her
connecting and later disconnecting hands with her
enactments as the subject in her own image-based
double to opening a pomegranate and then distributing
work, Sama Alshaibi aims to reorient her audiences’
its seeds on fertile ground. There are also juxtapositions
gaze. Born in Basra, raised in West Asia and educated
of seascapes with dried out stream beds, raising
in the arts first at Columbia College in Chicago and
ecological concerns which were cued to the project’s
then at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Alshaibi
initial installation for the Maldives Pavilion at the 55th
has negotiated her identity across divergent cultural
Venice Biennale in 2013. The Arabic titles for work in this
and national constructs. This familiarity with both sides
project often have Sufi or philosophical resonance, such
of the usual East / West dichotomy allows Alshaibi
as mandala like Al-Manatiq al-Khaas bi-Wijhat Nazarinaa
to visually critique, up-end and then reconfigure the
that translates as ‘the logic of our gaze’ which becomes
mostly male-centered and Orientalist framings of West
a critique of the very act of viewing. The most striking
Asia and particularly of Arab women. By literally taking
images from the series capture Alshaibi half submersed
ownership of the image through her own body, while
in water with a prayer like gesture. Taken from behind—
of water, or purveyor with stacks of food vessels, or a
arranging the setting and framing of her photographs
at times with palm trees at the distant shore perfectly
selection of beverages, or carrying fishing nets and
and videos, Alshaibi becomes an activist advocating for
reflected on a mirror-like pool, it is as if we are witness
even baggage. Yet the Arab women she activates
a reorientation of her viewers’ gaze while creating new
to her act of praying. By giving us the subject position
are not submissive as those depicted in Orientalist
resonance generated through images of her staged
of a rear view, not only does she negate nor engage our
modes, Alshaibi shows them as strong workers who
performances.
gaze, she perhaps invites us to join in her supplication.
resist their oppressors with their resolute return gazes. The resistance of these strong Arab women is
Alshaibi highlights this importance of performance
Alshaibi’s Staging the Imagined, which premiered at
brought into the realm of contemporary politics with
in her practice within an interview:
Ayyam Gallery Dubai in September 2019, is her most
Alshaibi’s monumental color silkscreen of herself as
recent project, which again took many years for its
the legendary Palestinian revolutionary Leila Khaled,
I think what I really am, is a performer. I started off in
development and final realization. In her project, not
with red keffiyeh and an ever-ready AK-47. Through
drama and music: singing opera, acting and dancing…
only does Alshaibi deconstruct the Orientalist framing
her Staging the Imagined Alshaibi confronts us with
when I started studying photography and video, I was
of Arab women as exotic objects in the harem created
the need for us to reorient our viewing and framings
able to examine my own story, my own family and the
by Western painters and then photographers, she
of not only Arab women but of the entire West Asia
political conditions of the world that intersected my own
actually learned the historic photographic processes
region as well as of any previously orientalized ‘others.’
life. (Sand Rushes In, 2015: 104)
of albumen and photogravure with copper plates used
In her initial multi-year project Silsila which was exhibited
by colonial cameramen to create her own alternative
Reference:
widely as an installation with photographs and video,
images projecting her own counter narrative. In the
Sand Rushes In (New York: Aperture, 2015), edited and
Alshaibi activates her own silsila, or lineage, connecting
series of sepia prints, Alshaibi takes the subject position
with an interview by Isabelle Ellaheh Hughes, foreward
the arid geographies of Arizona with desertscapes from
of an Arab woman, where she performs as if a carrier
by Salwa Mikdadi and essay by Alfredo Cramerotti.
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Sabkhat al-Milh (Salt flats) (2014) Diasec print, 120 cm in diameter
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Rub al Khali, from the series Silsila (2014) Diasec print, 120 cm in diameter
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Water Bearer II (2019) Albumen print on Somerset satin white 100% rag, 53.34 x 35.56 cm
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Gamer (2019) Albumen print on Somerset satin white 100% rag, 53.34 x 35.56 cm
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Marjanah (2019) Albumen print on Somerset satin white 100% rag, 53.34 x 35.56 cm
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The Harvest (2019) Albumen print on Somerset satin white 100% rag, 53.34 x 35.56 cm
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Generation after Generation (2019) Digital print, 2362 x 584 cm
Of Someone’s Memory (2019) Digital print, 152.4 x 101.6 cm
Even After (2019) Digital print, 152.4 x 101.6 cm
You Who Are Body, Vessel (2019) Digital print, 152.4 x 101.6 cm
I Am, She I, (2019) Digital print, 152.4 x 101.6 cm
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PROFILE Images - Courtesy of the artist and the Sharjah Art Foundation. Writer - Sabrina DeTurk, art historian, curator, writer and educator.
Akram Zaatari, On Photography, Dispossession and Times of Struggle (2017) HD video, colour, sound; 37 minutes. Installation view Courtesy of the artist, kurimanzutto, Sfeir-Semler and Thomas Dane Galleries. Photo: Sharjah Art Foundation
Akram Zaatari: Against Photography Re-envisioning photography’s history through archive, artistic practice and curation While most photographers consider the archive
of the material evidence of that history. Over the
individual artists expressed the desire to create
as an eventual repository for their work, if they
years, however, his interest shifted to see the
a collection and work on it, with it. … If it is an
consider it at all, for Lebanese photographer
images collected by the AIF as a lens through
archive, it is more of an archive of research and
Akram Zaatari, the archive is the driving force
which to re-read, curate and construct a history
collecting practices than an archive of photographic
behind his research-based practice. Along with
of the region; a project not antithetical to, but
practices.” (Zaatari, 2013: 60)
Fouad Elkoury and Samer Mohdad, he founded
certainly different than, that of constructing a
the Arab Image Foundation (AIF) in 1997 and
history of photography in the region.
his recent solo exhibition at the Sharjah Art
This understanding of the AIF as, ideally, as a living, malleable archive, subject to the artistic and
Foundation (SAF) focused on the critical role that
The title of the exhibition, Against Photography, is
curatorial interventions of those who contribute to
the AIF has played in his multifaceted practice as
a phrase that Zaatari himself coined and discussed
and work with it, was evident in the SAF exhibition.
artist, archivist and curator.
in a 2013 interview in Aperture magazine: “On
Zaatari’s installations combined and recombined
the surface, it is a statement in opposition to the
images from various settings and time periods to
Against Photography: An Annotated History of the
paths that photography institutions have taken.
continually interrogate the role of the photographer
Arab Image Foundation featured a variety of works
But, indeed, ‘against photography’ also means
in constructing visual, national and social histories.
by Zaatari, including photographic prints, mixed
leaning against photography’s history in order to
The role of the curator was also at play, as he
media installations and videos, offering a reflection
move elsewhere, where we can save photography
selected images from collections already curated
on the evolution of the AIF specifically through an
from its fate.” (Zaatari, 2013: 62)
by himself and other artists at the AIF while the
analysis of his contributions to its collections and
exhibition curators in each venue lent their expertise
Zaatari’s interest shifted to see the images collected by the AIF as a lens through which to re-read, curate and construct a history of the region
at the heart of his founding of the AIF and the
It is precisely this kind of radical re-envisioning
foundation’s current direction:
of photography’s history and potential
development. Zaatari’s relationship with the AIF
As a title, Against Photography reflects, then,
and vision to the overall project of curating AIF’s
over the past 20 years has been complex, with
both Zaatari’s antagonism toward the direction
history through Zaatari’s projects.
the organization serving as the vehicle for the
towards preservation that the AIF has taken in
development of his own projects and interests as a
recent years as well as his continued fascination
The materiality of photographs is an aspect of
photographer. At the same time he participated in
with photography as a means to excavate the past,
their identity that greatly interests Zaatari. While
wider debates within and around the AIF on issues
to participate in a kind of archaeology of images
the AIF has during its evolution established the
such as provenance, preservation and authorship.
that informs his artistic practice. The exhibition,
conservation of physical photographs as a primary
which was shown also in South Korea, Spain and
responsibility for the organization, he has pushed
Zaatari describes his early work with the AIF as
Germany, is described as “An Annotated History of
back against that priority, at one point even
focused on researching details of photographers’
the Arab Image Foundation” and presents, rather
proposing a radical repatriation of the photographs
practice as they impacted the modernist project
than a linear account of the AIF, an interrogation,
in the AIF collections to the families that donated
As an artist who has always viewed his practice
and discourse of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
through the perspective of his artistic practice,
them. He sees the existence of high-quality digital
as analogous to archaeology, Zaatari viewed the
References:
The role of the foundation was to collect evidence
of the foundation’s priorities and program. He
reproductions and online image repositories as
returning of the photographs to their families of origin
Adami, E. (2019) “History and photographic memory:
of these practices, to contribute to the construction
emphasized the important role of artists and
the practical impetus for such a gesture, but it is
as a kind of metaphorical equivalent of leaving the
Akram Zaatari.” Journal of Visual Culture 2: 169-186.
of a history of photography in the Middle East
research-based artistic practice on the founding
his philosophical argument that sheds light on the
archaeological past unburied, returning the material
Zaatari, A. and Westmoreland, M. (2013) “Against
region and to provide for the care and preservation
of AIF: “AIF did not exist as an archive before
split between the artistic, research-based impulse
object to its origin.
photography.” Aperture 210: 60-65.
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that made the creation of the Arab Image …I did not believe any more in detaching images
Foundation by Zaatari and his colleagues
from a living tissue for the sake of their preservation.
such an inventive model, a synergy between
We (at the AIF) have always told families that our
archive, artistic practice and curation. The SAF
interest in originals came from our interest in their
exhibition captured both the possibility and
conservation. But archaeologists know very well that
impossibility of this approach, by highlighting
the ultimate way to conserve archaeology is to keep
the visual and intellectual creativity of Zaatari’s
it buried under earth, which contradicts the very idea
work with images from a foundation with which
of the excavation. (Adami, 2019: 173)
he no longer finds a connection. 27 September 2019 - 10 January 2020
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Akram Zaatari, various works. Mixed media installations. Dimensions variable. Installation view. Photo: Sharjah Art Foundation
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Akram Zaatari, various works. Mixed media installations. Dimensions variable. Installation view. Photo: Sharjah Art Foundation
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Akram Zaatari, The Body of Film (detail) (2017) 14 pigment inkjet prints on backlit UV cloth; 100 x 150 cm each. Photo: Sharjah Art Foundation
Akram Zaatari, Men Posing While Crossing Ainel Helweh Bridge (2007) 36 gelatin silverprints; 29 x 19 cm each (frame size). Installation view: Courtesy of Sfeir-Semler Gallery. Photo: Sharjah Art Foundation
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PROFILE Images - Courtesy of the artist. Writer - Valerie Behiery, arts writer.
Abu Samir from the series Faces From Erased Places (2015) Sepia print, 112 x 213 cm
John Halaka: Faces of Erased Places Photography, memory and the dispossessed Abu Samir does not look at us. His mournful
will die and the young will forget.” The triptych’s
lived peacefully together in Palestine or
eyes stare off into space somewhere over our
central mandala-like photograph references the
that the studious Hussein Lubani, forced to
right shoulders. His hands, framed by a striped
land, while the double exposures on either side
flee El Damoun, Palestine as a young boy,
shirt and clasped at the waist, also appear lost
narrate the transmission of cultural memory from
had to guide his blind grandmother during
in thought. A landscape of rubble figures in lieu
the elders to the youth. In both photographs, a
the harrowing escape. Umm Aziz lost two
of his chest. The mound of destroyed houses
significant object is passed on; on the left, a set
infants after Israeli army gunfire chased her
topped by a lone minaret illuminates the pain
of keys from a lost or confiscated house promises
from her native village and, then much later,
etched across his creased face. Unfurled at the
return and, on the right, prayer beads signal
her four sons during the Sabra and Shatila
level of his heart, the image deciphers a life
the faith of hope and the hope of faith. Halaka
massacre. Abu Ibrahim’s story offers some
built around the burden of exile and loss. Umm
masters the use of the multiple exposure as an
reprieve as he continues to live in the West
Aziz’s gaze is also oblique. In the central image,
aesthetic strategy to meld person and place,
Bank village where he was born, carrying on
the elderly woman holds a poster carrying
past and present, as well as dream and reality.
the farming tradition of his ancestors, despite
the faces of four men. Her facial expression
much adversity.
and downcast eyes convey that the men are
Faces of Erased Places reveals photography’s
dead or missing. In the image on the right, her
capacity to act as a witness to human
If the texts are difficult to read, they secure
fingers are clutching a small piece of earth, a
experience and history. The series, forming
a place in history for Palestinian lives that
treasured, tangible memory of her homeland,
part of the much larger Portraits of Denial
mainstream history ignores, denies or
long left behind.
& Desire project on Palestine involving not
dehumanizes. Like all indigenous peoples
only photography, but also drawing, film, an
facing annihilation, Palestinians require an
Like all of the works in John Halaka’s Faces
oral history archive, and writing, effectively
archive to ensure that the memory of their
of Erased Places addressing the issues of
possesses a documentary dimension.
suffering and resilience be preserved. John
Palestinian displacement and occupation, the
Contesting the erasure of Palestinians from
Halaka has devoted thirty years of travel,
two photographic triptychs visually communicate
media, political, and public discourses, Faces
discussions and artmaking to creating such
the centrality of memory in contemporary
of Erased Places records the experiences of
an archive. Identifying with the philosophy of
Palestinian lives. Palestinians have not only
individual Palestinians, mapping, in particular,
‘the artist as public servant,’ the University of
been dispossessed of their land; their history and
the deep existential scars that the Nakba
San Diego professor strives relentlessly in his
culture, along with the tragic effects of the Nakba
inflicted. While the multipart portraits
life and work to be on the right side of history.
have equally undergone endless attempts of
function as autonomous visual documents,
As he explains, “Recording the narratives of
obliteration. Because memory often remains the
all are accompanied by texts that succinctly
Palestinian survivors and presenting them
Palestinians’ sole connection to their motherland,
recount the life stories of those represented.
through art, literature and films is part of a
its survival constitutes an act of resistance. In Will
We learn, for example, that Abu Samir, who
critical effort to make the unseen seen, and
the Young Forget?, the Palestinian-American artist
became a refugee at age eleven, remembers
the unheard heard, so no one can ever say,
consciously counters the Israeli adage “The old
a time when Muslims, Jews and Christians
“I didn’t know.”
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Like all indigenous peoples facing annihilation, Palestinians require an archive to ensure that the memory of their suffering and resilience be preserved. John Halaka has devoted thirty years of travel, discussions, and artmaking to creating such an archive
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Hands of Time from the series Faces From Erased Places (2015) Sepia print, 112 x 289.5 cm Sabra and Shatila from the series Faces From Erased Places (2018) Sepia print, 112 x 366 cm
Will the Young Forget from the series Faces From Erased Places (2018) Sepia print, 112 x 279 cm Abu Ibrahim from the series Faces From Erased Places (2018) Sepia print, 112 x 256.5 cm
ON THE GROUND Images - Thawra contributors. Writer - Aimee Dawson, editor and writer.
Fadia Ahmed ffadiaahmadphotography
Thawra: The Lebanese Revolution
More than a hundred days. That’s a moment in
Revolutionising photography through social media
where, no matter who, we are different today. Our
history that will forever be remembered. No matter hearts feel differently. Our brains think differently. Our being is walking towards the unknown, true; but
The latest Lebanese uprisings have been swift,
cacophony of action. “I’ve never considered
urgent and unyielding. The first screams of
photography to be a medium in my artistic
protest rang out on the evening of 17 October
practice before,” says Al Kadiri. “In the revolution
2019, and ever since people began taking to
I found myself—like many other protestors and
the streets to demand economic and political
artists—taking photos using my mobile.” Fellow
reform. Within days, thousands of people
Beiruti artist Shawki Youssef agrees that the
occupied Beirut and other parts of the country.
instantaneous nature of photography and its
On 29 October, the prime minister Saad Hariri
ability to be quickly shared has led him to use it
resigned. But over 100 days later, they are not
more than ever. The proliferation of photographs
done yet.
led the non-profit Beirut Center of Photography to create an open-air exhibition of images back
Amidst these events, photography has
in November called REVOLT. More than 20 giant
been used as a dynamic medium to capture
photos by 11 photographers, including Emilie
revolutionary fervour, the spirit of unity, and
Madi, Jack Seikaly, Lara Tabet and Omar Sfeir,
the trials of liberation. It has acted as a way to
were hung on the railings outside the city’s
document the vast numbers of people marching,
symbolic Egg building.
the newly liberated spaces of the city, as well as the brutal beatings and violence on the
These shared photographs—and those that
streets. The images attest to a reality that is
remain hidden on various devices—are fast
being quashed by state media. Instagram and
becoming a vast archive of personal testimonies
other social media platforms have played an
and national memories in what is a critical
important role as a quick way to disseminate
moment in Lebanon’s history. Al Kadiri hopes
their images. “Seeing the traffic that comes from
that one day his photographs and videos of
these photos on social media gives me a motive
the revolution will form part of a work or an
to take more photos to share online,” says the
installation. “But for now,” he says, “they are
Lebanese artist Abed Al Kadiri. “They can have
all stored on my memory card—safe and out
a powerful impact to raise awareness about what
of reach.”
These shared photographs—and those that remain hidden on various devices—are fast becoming a vast archive of personal testimonies and national memories in what is a critical moment in Lebanon’s history
the walk is worth it. Hope, tears, laughter, fear just to name a few sentiments, are daily companions. Every person down in the streets, these ordinary people, are somehow, undercover heroes. That’s the Lebanon I dreamed of when I flew back in 1991. That’s the Lebanon I have been feeling during the 10,452 steps I’ve been walking daily for the past seven years. Today Lebanon speaks up. Today Lebanon dares. Today we can say, proudly, we are Lebanese! Today we are not only witnessing a revolution; today we are living an EVOLUTION. ffadiaahmadphotography
is happening here.” Here, we look at photographers and other It is in this way that not only photographers
creatives from a variety of ages and backgrounds
but all kinds of people—including artists and
who have used photography and their own
creatives—cling to the medium of photography
unique aesthetic to capture the protests in
as an immediate way to record events in a
Lebanon that, as of yet, show no signs of abating.
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Jack Seikaly fjrseikaly
Just as I had decided to move from Lebanon to
Myriam Boulos fmyriamboulos
Monday, 20 January 2020
Los Angeles because of the lack of opportunities, a
Beirut, Lebanon
revolution ignited back home in protest of just that.
Tonight, in the tear gas, I took all my pictures with
So ten days later, I found myself on a flight back
eyes closed.
to Beirut with the goal of capturing the revolution
They say the moment of a picture is a black out.
and spreading the fight through my photography.
I wonder whether, if I don’t look at these emotions,
Less than a month later, I was asked to be a part of
will they disappear?
the REVOLT photography exhibition at the Egg, a dream I never knew I had. To have my work at such a great symbol of Beirut made me proud. Just a few weeks later the picture was burned by those spreading fear, and their decision to destroy my shot made me feel even prouder.
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Gaby Maamary fgabymaamary
Richard Sammour frichardsammour
These days changed everything. My eternal quest
This is our first true revolution since the Lebanese
for light against the dark forged my images of the
Civil War started 45 years ago. Politicians have used
Lebanese Revolution. The actions of happenings
us to steal our money. Now all the people, regardless
reminded me of the images from art history: Old
of religion and party, are participating in protests to
Masters, Baroque, Romantic, Impressionism, and
say no and enough. Women and men, adults and
Abstract Expressionism. Women and children,
children. I’m trying to show people’s reactions after
omnipresent in the field, centred my composition,
waking up from the last war.
while my eyes went on searching for the tear drops of the old and the high expectations of the young. Using photographic techniques to explode the actions, unchain the people, free their expressions, and magnify their power, I discovered that by releasing the light I unleashed the beast within.
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Shawki Youssef fshawkiyoussef
Tarek Moukaddem ftarekmoukaddem
This revolt is, above all, a movement of self-
In a region where traditional media is often politically
independence against a rotten, overwhelming
bias and belongs to political parties, and where
socio-politico-financial system. For me, these
the international press is only interested in the
images can be split into three parts. My images of
violent and the exotic, I felt the need to showcase
“the jokers”–the people in masks—are a reflection
the real face of the Lebanese revolution: the angry
on a certain prise de conscience in the citizen and
and violent, but also the pacifist, the intimate, the
their responsibilities. Secondly, the photos “the
women, and the different.
space” reflect the revolt against a constant loss of the public realm. The city has been reoccupied and recreated, and discussions, activities and meetings have bloomed. Lastly, the photos of “the women” show the revolt against a patriarchal system that still relegates women into a secondary role. I’m happily living this revolution as an independent Lebanese citizen, but as a father and a husband I am worried about my family like many others. As an active artist and a university teacher who uses multiple mediums, the instant ability of photography to grasp these precious moments and to share them, has pushed me to use it more than ever.
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Nat Muller onat_muller
Abed Al Kadri fabedalkadiri
This was not my first time in Beirut during upheaval.
This is the first time I have taken part in such acts—
On my first visit in 2005, days after Prime Minister
since leaving Beirut when I was 21, I have never
Rafiq Hariri was assassinated, I joined artists and
physically stood with the Lebanese people through
cultural practitioners in demonstrations. In 2019
any social or political activities. Since day one of the
when in Beirut for Ashkal Alwan’s Home Works 8,
revolution I felt the need to photograph these first
I found myself in the streets again, joining friends
moments as I wanted to properly document the
in their demand for basic services, social justice,
events for my own memory and visual archive. I
and an end to corruption. Once again, I was struck
later decided to choose a photo every day and turn
by the resilience, ingenuity and resolve of the
it into a drawing at night. These photos reflect my
Lebanese people who came out across sects and
own artistic aesthetic and I consider them a visual
classes to voice their anger. This young masked man
reference for my painterly practice.
symbolises all of this defiantly.
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NEW MEDIA Images - Courtesy of the artist. Writer - Anna Seaman, independent arts writer.
Delicate (2019) Paper, screens, projector, acrylic, wood, felt, canvas, wire, 600 x 600 cm
Daniah Al Saleh: Delicate Exploring a fusion of traditional and new media arts Daniah Al Saleh has an uncanny ability to
an animated digital circle moved according
turn the ordinary into the poetic. In her
to a computational formula. The contrast
own words, Al Saleh tackles notions of the
between the hand-painted and digitally-made
unobtrusive, the ordinary and the common.
circles created a space of tension. Inspired by
By deconstructing and rearranging familiar
a psychological study of human behaviour—An
objects and ideas, she makes the invisible
Experimental Study of Apparent Behaviour by
visible, manifesting a space for reflection that
Fritz Heider & Marianne Simmel (1944)—there
prompts new perspectives and ways of seeing.
were also anthropomorphic questions at play.
Born and raised in Riyadh but currently
These circles were almost identical yet unique.
based in London, where she is pursuing a
They were geometric constructions; yet their
Master of Fine Art in Computational Art at
conformist grids were microcosms for society
Goldsmiths, University of London, Al Saleh
and the expected social norms that communities
of nature to call for radical social change asking
has a multimedia practice that pivots around
rely on in order to function. The digital circle
for systems to consider the individual and the
aspects of life that are hidden in plain sight.
therefore, encapsulated the complexity of the
greater good rather than power and hierarchy.
Delicate addresses inequalities of class, religion and race within our highly striated contemporary cultures
piece. Emancipated from the rigidity of the static In 2019, she won the Ithra Art Prize for Sawtam,
and perceived perfectionism of its surroundings,
By merging disciplines and exploring different
an audio-visual presentation based on the
the digital circle was free to express itself. But to
mediums, Al Saleh offers new emphasis upon
phonemes of the Arabic language, that was
what extent was it really free? The social norms
everyday life with the involvement of generative
dubbed a digital windchime. Conceptually, this
expected of any individual in a liberated society
processes with code and data visualization. Hers
piece was based on the—deconstruction of
are almost always tied to the constraints of the
is a practice to watch as it evolves.
the most common human act – talking – into
world it functions in.
sounds, which were each assigned a digital code or sketch that vibrated onto a screen.
A few weeks later at 21,39 Jeddah Arts, an
The interactive piece consisted of 28 screens,
installation named Delicate captured the
arranged in a 4x7 grid that was presented at
imagination of audiences. Through a network
Art Dubai last year.
of hanging fabric sculptures, Delicate addresses inequalities of class, religion and race within
Earlier this year, in January 2020, Al Saleh
our highly striated contemporary cultures. The
unveiled two of her most recent projects,
installation uses the infinite perfection of fractal
cleverly fusing both traditional and new media.
patterns found in nature to explore potential
The first, Disobedient Affects comprised five
structures for harmony and positive change.
canvas panels filled with grids of painted circles
Inspired by the work of Adrienne Maree Brown,
in various shades of white. Within each canvas,
who coined the term ‘emergent strategy,’ this
she placed a seven-inch monitor upon which
work uses a philosophy based on observations
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NEW MEDIA Images - Courtesy of the artist. Writer - Rebecca Anne Proctor, writer.
1 The Fifth Sun (2017) Mixed media installation of Ink on hemp fabric 2.2 meter diameter artwork, video projection with sound. 9 minutes 44 seconds Next page: 6 The Fifth Sun (2017) Mixed media installation of Ink on hemp fabric 2.2 meter diameter artwork, video projection with sound. 9 minutes 44 seconds
Muhannad Shono: The Fifth Sun and Al Mars Saudi Arabian artist explores new realms and imagined states of being A large circle scintillates in a dark room. Its white
The ink, which fades and explodes in and out,
surface is filled with anamorphous markings,
refers to the “markings left by our actions
resembling those that define the craters on the
upon our planet, causing it to shake and
naked moon. Big black splotches then start to
reverberate across an illustrated landscape,”
be revealed on its exterior, one after the other,
says Shono.
as if made from gunshots—ink explodes onto
The power of his work lives in its multidimensional marriage of art and new media
the moon’s face to the sound of big electronic
The power of his work lives in its
thuds—and its circular, enchanting exterior
multidimensional marriage of art and new
then mutates again as we become transfixed
media. It’s the combination of media that
with its ever-changing state. Titled The Fifth
endow Shono’s art with its unique electricity.
Sun (2017), the installation by multimedia artist
“Whatever I am doing in terms of playfulness
Muhannad Shono, refers to the many creation
and experimentation, in terms of materials and
There was no degree in fine art when Shono
myths that frame mankind’s existence. It speaks
technology, it is all part of telling a story and
was at university, which led him to graduate
to how the universe operates in great cycles,
conveying that idea,” says Shono. “Whether
in Environmental Design at King Fahd
just like the cycles of the moon. It is currently
it is movements or interactivity, it is all part of
University of Petroleum and Minerals with
on view in Durational Portrait: A Brief Overview
whatever serves the story—whatever keeps me
a degree in Architecture. After several years
of Video Art in Saudi at Athr Gallery.
surprised, keeps me exploring and not limited
in Australia, Shono returned to Saudi Arabia
to one medium.”
in 2015 to find the country in the midst of
Shono’s work offers new avenues through
In another work titled Al Mars (2019), Shono
to Mars nor land on it so instead I created
Like all of Shono’s work, The Fifth Sun, which
change. He committed himself to his art
new media to tackle some of society’s most
creates a fictional timeline for plotting the race
stories which are engraved in these images
was commissioned by the Saudi Art Council,
When Shono was raised by his Syrian parents
and has had numerous exhibitions at Athr
pressing issues. In his last solo exhibition at
to colonize Mars in the backdrop of the race
and landscapes.” The installation constantly
communicates in various ways—aesthetic and
in Saudi Arabia the Kingdom was at its most
Gallery in Jeddah while also participating
Athr Gallery, titled The Silence Is Still Talking
to colonize the Arab world. “I took the dates
moves its various parts in an interactive way.
conceptual. It illustrates, explains the artist,
conservative. He often felt that he was in the
in residencies throughout Europe including
curated by Rahul Gudipudi, Shono showed a
of the Soviet Union landings on Mars from
When visitors interact with the pieces in the
the coming and going of a people through
wrong place, using his imagination and fiction
at Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin. His work
large installation made in charcoal and ink on
1963-1971 and I looked at what the western
installation they begin to move. “Mars for me
“the rhythm of creation and destruction.”
to better understand what was ‘real.’ Retreating
has been acquired by the British Museum
paper that explored ‘the crisis of the word.’
superpower was doing at that time in terms
is like the Middle East—a desolate rust-like
It specifically refers to the Mesoamerican
into his imagination provided an alternate
and the Art Jameel Foundation. He has also
The papers, with their smudged ink surfaces,
of colonizing the Middle East,” he explains.
blood colored landscape because of these
people who state that there have been four
world. Although comic books were rare in Saudi
recently shown his work The Lost Path, a
were fastened on a large object resembling an
“The same year that the Soviet Union landed
years and years of interference and landings,”
cycles or suns since the dawn of the human
Arabia, Shono used them for inspiration. They
sprawling installation staged around the
old printing press. In order to make each inky
on Mars in 1963 they were using their financial,
he explains.
race and that we now reside within the fifth
would arrive, when they did, with black markings
ancient rock formations of Alula, as part
smudge on the paper, Shono ground hardened
technological and engineering influence and
sun or epoch. The work, created in ink on
censoring figures or an undesired memory. It is
of the inaugural Desert X Alula edition.
charcoal words to dust and then employed
power to interfere in the building of the
The poignancy of Shono’s work lies in its ability
hemp fabric and a video projection with
these black censored markings which inspired
The 984-foot-long sculpture made out of
vibrations from an inaudible spectrum of sound
great dam in Egypt.” The work looks at the
to relay emotion. It is an emotion generated
sound by Mary Rapp, also underlines our
Shono’s signature use of ink. Restrictions on the
65,000 pipes ultimately, says the artist,
that resulted in new undefined ‘words’—as black
timeline of events, mirroring the journey to
through art and technology that transmits new
precarious relationship with the world. Here
visual world forced him to create new drawing
“offers visitors a chance to find their own
pigment forms on paper. The artist explains that
Mars with the continual interference of the
meaning and explores unchartered borders
the moon is depicted as a large suspended
techniques and narratives when self-publishing
path into a meditative space framed by the
the meaning of these ‘words’ cannot be read,
powers that be within the Middle East. “I
and realms through space, time and possibly
drum or daff as it is called in Saudi Arabia.
many comic books.
Alula rock formations.”
it must be ‘experienced.’
did not possess the technical ability to travel
also our unconscious thought processes.
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NEW MEDIA Artist - Courtesy of the artist. Images - Tara Aldughaither, curator and sonic artist.
Stills 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, from Syria Serenading Dusk at Dawn (2019) all dimensions are aprox 1130 x 640 pixels
Sarah Alagroobi: Syria Serenading Graveyards at Dusk A matriarchal panegyric I’m sorry…
and presence of an individual self. This is a
How do you say it when there’s no one around
figurative motif which runs through many of
to hear?
the artist’s pieces in which the dichotomy of
It’s a tree fallen in an empty wood.
place, language and identity are explored.
A songbird serenading graveyards at dusk,
Always in reaction and relation to her context,
To speak it into the void is to baptize yourself
Alagroobi expresses herself here through the
in regret without end or beginning.
recitation of a poem, in this instance, candidly exposing her voice in performance of an
Text and canvas have been interlacing features
impossible apology. It echoes, for example,
of Sarah Alagroobi’s work over the years,
the impossibility of perfectly pleasing a
mirroring the in-betweenness of a dual identity.
seemingly dual identity and self.
Alagroobi expresses herself here through the recitation of a poem… candidly exposing her voice in performance of an impossible apology. blood but traveling different paths.
With her unique style of carving, distorting canvas and abstracting Arabic letters, Syria
During Alagroobi’s short time in her maternal
She is not on speaking terms with her
Serenading Graveyards at Dusk, presents
homeland, heavily policed public spaces
older self.
a unique treatment of word and image, yet
were recorded in fragments, revealing both
reflects an honest extension of the artists’
empty and crowded spaces. The images
Samt is an independent contemporary art
subject matter and practice.
are sometimes superimposed, echoing the
platform founded by the artist Walid Al Wawi
process of layering and carving reminiscent
and Sargon Latchin in 2016. Samt is mainly
As with all of the past instances in which Samt, a
of her practice as a painter. The moving
an online, research-centered non-profit
non for profit, research-driven creative platform,
images portray remains of familiar interior
initiative tackling five main challenges that
worked independently with artists in the region, a
and exterior spaces, with video depicting
are faced in the context of Middle Eastern
yearlong mentorship and safe space to explore new
a disturbed flow of daily life routines within
creative practices including; censorship and
possibilities outside the accustomed institutional
the city’s post-war condition. With the audio
conservation, geography and accessibility,
framework gave Alagroobi an opportunity to
recording of the artists’ recitation of a poem,
mentorship and research, exposure and
create new work. During this time, Alagroobi
also written in fragments, the work speaks
opportunity and art in urban spaces.
experienced a creative block and distance from
both to the loss of a matriarchal figure and
www.samt.co and @samtsamtsamt
her usual painting practice. With the death of
of an urgent need to reclaim that force,
her great grandmother mid-year, she undertook
inspired by the understanding of safety from
an urgently needed trip with her family, winding
the perspective of a woman:
through Abu Dhabi into Kuwait to Damascus. My first letter is in the soul of the Syria of As half Emirati and half Syrian, while being an avid
my childhood.
reader and writer, Alagroobi’s Syria Serenading
It is superimposed over the Syria of today.
Graveyards at Dusk depicts both the absence
She is two very different women, related by
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BOOKS
BOOKS
Images - Courtesy of the artist.
Eman Ali: Succession
Images - Courtesy of the artist.
Lara Atallah: Edge of Elysium
The political future of Oman Succession is a photo book assembled by the Omani artist Eman Ali, that explores her deep concern about Oman’s uncertain political future. The photographs are taken from the first decade of the past Sultan’s rule. The found images are sourced from a quarterly newsletter titled Oman, published by the Embassy of the Sultanate in the United Kingdom from 1973 to the 1980s. The purpose of this publication was to inform the diplomatic circle about new developments in the country under his rule. It was to promote to the West a view of a country that was modern, stable and economically successful. It was also the time when the previous Sultan established both his rule and was shaping an image of Oman.
Edge of Elysium, is the first part of a two-part journey through time, space and land along Southern European and West Asian coastlines. Damaged Polaroids are interspersed with short texts that navigate the ideas of love, belonging, loss and grief through narratives filled with quiet images. The book reflects on the futility of manmade borders by exploring human experiences tainted by trauma and melancholy. Despite these tribulations, the texts are also imbued with a stubborn hope.
Photography played an integral role in creating the Nation’s identity and conveying an image of the Sultanate of Oman to the world at large. The artist has used and transformed this source material, re-photographing the images using an iPhone, and then digitally altering them. The sequencing of images is intentionally fleeting and has an almost dream-like quality.
Eman Ali is an Omani visual artist whose work interlaces gender, religious and
Lara Atallah is a New York-based artist and writer. Her practice is informed by her
sociopolitical ideologies under the umbrella of sexuality and the performance of
interest in the political nature of landscape, and the power it holds to reshape our
gender in the Arabian Gulf region.
perception of borders.
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SERIES Artist - From Egypt, lives and works in the Hague. Images - Courtesy of the artist.
New Dutch Views #2 The Netherlands 2018, from the series New Dutch Views (2018-2019) Archival pigment print, 165 x 125cm
Marwan Bassiouni: New Dutch Views During a period of two years (2018-2019), Marwan Bassiouni travelled across the Netherlands and photographed the country’s landscape from inside Dutch mosques. Bassiouni physically visited more than seventy mosques to produce a total of 30 New Dutch Views. All his photographs are composites and representations of actual Dutch mosque interiors with their views on the local landscape. Each mosque is depicted in its actual surroundings. He presents his series as large-scale photographic prints in the monographic photobook: New Dutch Views.
Marwan Bassiouni is an artist and photographer. He holds a BA in
first photo book New Dutch Views. His work has been shown at venues
Photography from The Royal Academy of Art and a Photographer CFC
such as Aperture, Paris Photo, Fotostiftung Schweiz, Unseen Photofair,
from the Photography School of Vevey. His work has been written about
Athens Photo Festival, The Humanity House, Le Prix Bayeux Calvados
in the British Journal of Photography, EXIT Imagen Y Cultura, Lens culture,
and Cultuurhuis De Warande. Marwan is the recipient of the W. Eugene
Aperture and various national newspapers. In 2019, Marwan had his first
Smith Student Grant, the Harry Pennings Prize and several other awards
solo exhibition at the Hague Museum of Photography and published his
and nominations.
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New Dutch Views #29, The Netherlands 2019, from the series New Dutch Views (2018-2019) Archival pigment print, 165 x 125cm
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New Dutch Views #7, The Netherlands 2019, from the series New Dutch Views (2018-2019) Archival pigment print, 165 x 125cm
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New Dutch Views #29, The Netherlands 2019, from the series New Dutch Views (2018-2019) Archival pigment print, 165 x 125cm
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New Dutch Views #18, The Netherlands 2019, from the series New Dutch Views (2018-2019) Archival pigment print, 165 x 125cm
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SERIES Artist - From Palestine, lives and works in Amman. Images - Courtesy of the artist.
Untitled 5, from the series 13301 (2019)
Basel Hasan: 13301 Basel Hasan’s series 13301 is a digital and visual exploration of urban cityscapes and objects pertaining to life in these cities, contrasted with images of intimacy or natural landscapes. With photos shot in Cairo and Amman, Hasan depicts the isolation and drab of the modern urban space built on subjugation and hierarchy. This is juxtaposed against the richness of the nature outside the city, or the warmth and intimacy that can be found within and despite it. Contrasting the two explores the potential for an alternative, potentially liberated, mode of being, that can exist outside the bounds of the city sustained by political and economic suppression, while also questioning to what extent can this alternate way of living exist within the city itself.
Hasan is a multidisciplinary Palestinian artist based in Amman, Jordan. His work explores the relation of objects and spaces to wider sociopolitical structures, through visual representations of landscapes, architecture, modern cultural artifacts and the mundanity of everyday life.
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Untitled 6, from the series 13301 (2019)
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Untitled 8, from the series 13301 (2019)
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SERIES Tilila (2019) from the project Among You
Artist - M’hammed Kilito. Images - Courtesy of the artist.
Meryam Tilila has medication induced skin hyperpigmentation. She suffered from harassment in the streets. When you meet her, you quickly realize that she is a bright, determined and very confident young woman. The feedback she has had on her photos since last year on Instagram has made her popular and realize that her skin spots are a “perfect imperfection” and, in a way, her own signature. As a result, many Moroccan and foreign fashion designers and photographers work with her today because of her unique look.
M’hammed Kilito: Among You This project is a reflection on the choice of a personal identity for Moroccan youth based on a selection of portraits of young people who take their destinies into their own hands. These individuals have the courage to choose their own realities, often pushing the limits of society further. Whether through their creative activities, their appearance, or their sexuality, they convey the image of a young Morocco—alert, changing, claiming the right to be different and celebrating diversity. These young people, whose minds embody the resistance of a palm tree—a tree adapted to the harshest Moroccan climatic conditions—defy the conservative and traditional norms of Moroccan society on a daily basis. They cultivate their private oasis despite the obstacles they encounter in a country that they feel is not progressing at the same pace as they are, and they are inspiring others along the way.
The work of the photographer M’hammed Kilito addresses issues relating
accurate view of daily life than what is commonly seen in the media.
to cultural identity and the human condition.
M’hammed’s work has been presented in Sharjah Art Foundation
He is a National Geographic Explorer (2020) and had received the Prize of résidence de la photographie de la Fondation des Treilles (2020). He is an alumni of the Eddie Adams Workshop (2019) and a Magnum Foundation/AFAC/Prince Claus Fund grantee (2018). He is also a member of the African Photojournalism Database - a project of the World Press
(Sharjah), Amman Image Festival, Tate Modern, Addis Foto Fest, PHotoESPAÑA, Rétine Argentique, Fotofilmic Gallery, Beirut Image Festival. His photographs have been published in The Wall Street Journal, World Press Photo, El Pais and the Washington Post, among others.
Photo Foundation and Everyday Africa and contributes to Everyday
He holds a Master of Arts in Political Science from Ottawa University and
Middle East and North Africa, a collection of images that convey a more
a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Montreal.
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Salma (2019) from the project Among You
Salima (2019) from the project Among You
Born in a working-class neighbourhood and raised by a traditional family, Salma has
Salima’s parents think that weightlifting will deform her body and that she will no longer
always struggled to be herself. She is a Goth and loves the strange, the enigmatic
be able to marry the man they wanted for her. She feels that she no longer corresponds
and the unusual. She presents an ideal of beauty uncommon in Morocco and she
to the stereotypical idea and criteria of feminine beauty as desired by men, yet it does
particularly appreciates what is considered frightening, worrying or ugly under the
not bother her more than that, because it is the body she has always dreamed of. If she
standards of society.
questions the man’s view on women, she also questions women’s view on themselves.
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SERIES Anas (2019) from the project Among You
Shady (2019) from the project Among You
Anas says he has problems with his family at home. They do not call him by his first
Shady defines himself as “a fairy in the land of the Ogre, a maniac of nongendered
name but by saying “the tattooed one”. This qualification, which is pejoratively meant,
fashion, a mixture of pastel, gore and alternative punch bowl”. In his very poetic way
says a lot about the stigmatization of tattooed people in the Moroccan collective
of being, he feels misunderstood in the eyes of a society that considers him a Satanist
imagination, because they are considered criminals, prisoners and dangerous people.
simply by having a metal ring in his nose.
He is a Peter-Pan, in the midst of adults, lost in issues beyond his control.
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PROJECT SPACE Images - Courtesy of artist. Writer - Janet Bellotto, artist and educator
Grandma Ameena Wishes (2019) Video installation, 2 min
Ameena Aljarman: Grandma Ameena Wishes Revisiting memories through hand rituals Artists in the Emirates have been prolific for
grounded in location by the traditional fabric
decades, however few have migrated their use
of the jalabiya, and further journey through a
of imagery from photography to video. This has
narrative of womanhood and of passing on rituals
become a medium of choice for a new generation
to another generation. The narrative is segmented
of artists. New themes are also being explored
like our memories, shifting from seashore to sea.
by these artists, delving into and questioning
Aljarman’s grandmother’s ritual is infused with
issues of gender as well as regional history and
memories from when she first traveled to India
cultural traditions.
in 1949, as she said “with [my] hands, everything is engraved, even my eternal love of the sea.”
Emerging Emirati artist Ameena Aljarman explores
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space and time through personal memories and cultural traditions. She is a graduate of Zayed University, where she studied art and international studies. Subsequently, she completed a Salama Bint Hamdan Emerging Artists Fellowship and recently was selected for Campus Art Dubai 8.0 (CAD). Her new video installation will be shown in the CAD exhibition for the 14th edition of Art Dubai. Her work has been exhibited in various exhibitions locally including SIKKA as well as in the 2019 Emirates Fine Art Society Annual Exhibition held at the Sharjah Art Museum. Aljarman shares the background of her project: ‘I asked my Grandma why she to used dip our hands in goat’s blood during Eid AlAdha celebrations, and it seemed that she believed the ritual will bring our wishes to come true and protect us. And I vividly remember all the colours, smells and sounds, everything that she s during the ritual.’ The dreamy recollection of a ritual waves through the video as henna marked hands wash over one another, with waves collapsing. We are
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