Tribe 09

ISSUEtribe 09/2019 1

‫حقوق األجيال القادمة‬ Rights of Future Generations ‫تقييم أدريان لحود‬ Curated by Adrian Lahoud

OPENING WEEK NOVEMBER 9–12, 2019 register

‫أسبوع االفتتاح‬ 2019 ،9–12 ‫شهر نوفمبر‬

info@sharjaharchitecture.org

‫تسجيل‬

Contents

Issue 09 / 2019

Editor’s note

INDUSTRY

PORTFOLIO

Vantage Point: SAF, Sharjah, UAE. Let’s

Samer Mohdad ............................ 64

The 9th edition of Tribe evolved from a collective interest in contemporary

Be Honest, The Weather Helped: The

By: Sabrina DeTurk

documentary photography. We were keen to explore the areas of hybridization,

Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. The

Zied Ben Romdhane .................... 76

where social, cultural and political nuances of a place and its people are framed

Place I Call Home: Touring the Gulf and

By: Flounder Lee

in a window of human experience.

three UK cities. When the Clouds Speak:

Ghada Khunji ............................... 90

Saint-Trophime Cloister, Arles. Inaugural

By: Latifa Al Khalifa

Beirut Image Festival: Lebanon. La Mer

Many of the artists whose work we’ve included in this issue of Tribe use life, untouched, as the content for their work. They do not create the art, they find

Patrie: Dar El-Nimer for Arts and Culture,

PROFILE

Beirut. The Tour: Tintera Gallery, Cairo.

Alfred Tarazi ................................. 102

Portrait of Humanity: Traveling exhibition,

By: Ari Akkermans

worldwide. Above: Aerial Photography

Btihal Remli ................................. 108

images, from cover to cover, is a vibrant and affecting portrayal of humanity,

Exhibition: Manarat Al Saadiyat, Saadiyat

By: Sumeja Tulic

and the art of life.

Island ...........................................10 - 13

Deborah Benzaquen ................... 114

it, frame it and record it. There is an incredible degree of aesthetic and stylistic variation, and an impressive array of conceptual dialogue. The collection of

Enjoy and thank you.

By: Chama Tahiri REVIEW

Hind Mezaina ............................... 118

Ithra .......................................... 16

By: Emma Warburton

By: Abeer Mishkhas

Myriam Boulos ............................. 126

Farah Al Qasimi ....................... 22

By: Emma Warburton

By: Christopher Joshua Benton

Randa Mirza ................................. 132

Jalal Bin Thaneya .................... 28

By: Emma Warburton

By: Maha Alsharif For Your Inconsideration ......... 34

NEW MEDIA

By: Nada Al Aradi

Meriem Bennani: ......................... 138

Louvre Abu Dhabi ................... 40

By: Emma Warburton

By: Yvonne McGahren Larissa Sansour ......................... 46

SERIES

By: Janet Bellotto

Rehaf Batniji ................................. 142 Eslam Abd El Salam .................... 148

FEATURE

Yoriyas ......................................... 152

Rum Sublime............................. 52

Ziryab Alghabri ............................ 158

By: Kit Hammonds

Tribe has been supported by: Al Serkal Avenue, Debbie Kanafani, Haitham Alaini, Kaleem Books, Lia Gotsis Paschal, Lulu Al-Sabah, Maysoune Ghobash, Philip Lanier, Rami & Ramzi Tabiat, Rana Sadik and Samer Younis, Sirin Masri,

ESSAY

Sophie Bray, Tashkeel and The Mohamed S. Farsi Foundation.

Ahlam Shibli ............................. 58

Cover Image: Zied Ben Romdhane, (Detail) (2014) Chattessalam, a boy rowing

By: Suzy Sikorski

in a fridge behind the chemical factory.

In Partnership with:

f tribephotomag d tribephotomag - www.tribephotonewmedia.com Contact: editorial@ink.com, sales@ink.com Media Partnerships:

Publisher Mubarik Jafery

Assistant Editor Woodman Taylor

Business Development Nanda Collins

Design Channels

Print Consultant Sivadas Menon

Pre Press Rana Veera Kumar

Photo Editor Sueraya Shaheen

Editorial Assistant Emma Warburton

Distribution Maria Añonuevo

Artfair Coordinator Daveeda Shaheen

Production Manager Gopinath.V.C

Associate Editor New Media Janet Bellotto

Industry Support Janet Rady Fine Art Yvonne McGahren

Legal Consultant Fatimah Waseem

Design Assistant Zia Paulachak Jafery Laradona Shaheen

Printing Supervisor Sreejesh Krishnan

Printer Jonson M Vargees Biju Varghese

This catalog 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 magazine, 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

Writers Abeer Mishkhas is a Saudi journalist based in

film, and installation art in Dubai. Past work has

Many of the same topics and media are also part of

England. She writes for Asharq Al-Awsat on cultural

been made in collaboration with Alserkal Avenue,

his curatorial practice. His sabbatical work deals with

topics. She has interviewed prominent creators and

Sikka Art Fair, and Dubai Design District. He is also

a quotidian future, the type of future most of us will

curators, and covered art fairs across the world.

the creative director of Dubai-based record label

experience. www.flounderlee.com

Among her interviewees are Ahmad Mater; Sebastião

Bedouin Records and the founder of the art collective

f photoflounder

Salgado, the celebrated Brazilian photographer;

BROWNBLACK. f maxfirepower Janet Bellotto is an artist and educator from

Tristram Hunt, director of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London; Jussi Pylkkänen, the global

Elisa Routa, France born and raised, has been

Toronto, who splits her time teaching in Dubai as

president of Christie’s auction house and Haifaa

covering street life, surfing, travel, the outdoors and

Professor, Visual Arts at the College of Arts and

Al-Mansour, the Saudi filmmaker.

arts for a variety of publications since 2007. Over the

Creative Enterprises at Zayed University, Dubai. She

years, Elisa has made a point of putting the human

engages projects that promote cultural exchange

Arie Amaya-Akkermans is a writer and art critic

aspect back at the heart of her art, celebrating the

through curating and writing, with a current focus on

based in Istanbul. His work has appeared in Canvas,

power of storytelling with guts and ethics. Prior to

photography and new media art in the MENA region,

Hyperallergic, San Francisco Arts Quarterly, Art Asia

creating Relief Agency, a young multi-disciplinary

and was Artistic Director for the 20th International

Pacific, Harper’s Bazar Art Arabia, among others,

creative agency, she worked as a community reporter

Symposium on Electronic Art. Sculpture / Installation

including several exhibition catalogues and artist

for Instagram in France, editor-in chief of Panthalassa

is central to her practice that also uses and expands

monographs in the Middle East region. Previously

journal as well as Swenson Magazine. She studied

with the mediums of photography, video, sound

he was a guest editor of Arte East (2015), moderator

at the London School of Journalism and currently

and performance. Her work has been exhibited in

in the talks programme of Art Basel (2015-2016),

lives in Biarritz, France. With a background in print

a variety of solo, group and collective exhibitions

expert fellow at IASPIS, Stockholm (2016), speaker

and digital media, Elisa works today as a writer for

internationally, as well as in international art fairs,

on Orientalism at the Moscow Museum of Modern

Conde Nast International (@Vogue), committed to

including Beijing, Istanbul, New York, Mexico, Toronto

Art (2017), jury of the young artist platform BASE,

featuring emerging talent.

and Venice. www.janetbellotto.com f janetbellotto

Berlin (2019). He is currently working on a dissertation

Emma Warburton is an independent arts writer and

Kit Hammonds is Curator of the Museo Jumex in

in archaeology and classics.

emerging curator currently based in Toronto, Ontario.

Mexico City, having relocated to from Taiwan in 2017.

Istanbul (2018) and a guest speaker at IFA Gallery,

She holds a BA in Painting and Drawing and an MA in

His projects to date include Learning to Read with

Chama Tahiri, based between Paris and Casablanca,

Curating Contemporary Art. She recently completed

John Baldessari (2017) and Scripted Reality: The Life

her hometown, is an artistic director and cultural

a Curatorial Internship at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

and Art of Television (2018) as well as commissioning

journalist. Aside from being co-founder of Lioumness,

Today, she works as the Editorial Assistant for Tribe

site-specific works by Micheal Smith and Fritz Haeg

the first creative studio and cultural webzine in

magazine. Emma regularly writes for a number of

& Nils Norman. Formerly, Hammonds was a curator,

Morocco, she writes for other publications, produces

print and online based art publications, and maintains

art writer and academic in the UK and Taiwan, having

events, promotes artists and creates content to

an informal but active art practise based in painting,

realized projects in Europe, Asia and the Americas.

reshape the narratives around African and Arab

drawing and ephemeral sculpture. f hellohellomissy

He was part of the curatorial teams for The Invisible

cultures. Amongst her recent projects are the writing

Hand: The Second CAFAM Biennial, Beijing (2014);

and artistic direction of the feature documentary Casa

Flounder Lee is an artist/curator/educator currently

and the Goethe Institut’s international project Europe

jusqu’à là mer, the promotion of Bachar Mar-Khalifé’s

on sabbatical doing artist and curatorial residencies

to the Power of N (2011-2014).

latest album, and the opening strategy for The Grand

around the world. He received his BFA from the

Theatre of Rabat, designed by the late Iraqi architect

University of Florida and his MFA from California

Latifa Al Khalifa is a curator and arts manager

Zaha Hadid. In her spare time, Chama volunteers in

State University Long Beach—both in studio art

who found her passion for Arab contemporary art

the education sector, attends conferences, and saves

and photography. For the last decade, several

while studying for her MA in Cultural and Creative

orphaned kittens. instagram and twitter handle: f

overlapping themes have run throughout his

Industries at King’s College London. In 2013, in

chama_tahiri

work: postcolonialism, mapping, science, and

partnership with Edge of Arabia and the Ministry

environmental change. He uses various media such

of Culture in Bahrain, Al Khalifa curated In the

Christopher Benton is an American writer and

as photo, video, performance, sound, and installation

Open, a group exhibition at the Mayor of London

conceptual artist working across photography,

to create work that touches on important topics.

Shubbak Festival. The exhibition marked the first time

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a Bahraini contemporary art group had participated in

Middle East and United States. Her artwork has been

UAE at Fordham University in New York. She was

an art event in London. In 2016, she launched Too Far

exhibited in many national exhibitions including at

a Fulbright Scholar in the UAE during 2016-2017,

Company, an art platform that focuses on promoting

the Bahrain Female Artist Annual Exhibition, Albareh

furthering her thesis by documenting pioneer Emirati

artists and visual art from the MENA region in the

Contemporary, AlRiwaq Art Space, and Alwan 338

artists in their studios.

global art market as well as offering skills-based art education programmes in Bahrain.

Her exhibition reviews and interviews have been Dr. Sabrina DeTurk is an art historian, curator, writer

published in The National, Tribe, Harper’s Bazaar

and associate professor in the College of Arts and

Art Arabia and ArtAsiaPacific. Her personal blog

Maha Alsharif is a writer and emerging critic. She

Creative Enterprises at Zayed University in Dubai. Her

Mid East Art (mideastart.com) features her video

recently founded theartcricket.com, an independent

new book is Street Art in the Middle East, published

and text interviews and published articles with artists

blog that provides critical writing on contemporary

by I.B. Tauris.

from the region. She also is a contributor to Oxford

visual culture. Prior, she worked with art galleries,

University Press’ Benezit Dictionary of Artists, of which

institutions, and artists in the UAE, Palestine and UK.

Sumeja Tulic is a Libyan-born Bosnian writer and

she has contributed over 20 Arab and Iranian artist

Alsharif obtained her BA in Art, Design, and Media

photographer. Her work is concerned with conflict,

biographies in their artist encyclopedia. Currently,

from Richmond University in London. Having an

estrangement, belonging, and art. She is currently

Suzy is a Junior Specialist in Christie’s Dubai in their

interest in art management, she went on to complete

working on a series of essays, at times verging on

Post War and Contemporary Art department. She

a MA in Art Business at Sotheby’s Institute of Art where

fiction, about hiding in plain sight as concept, gesture,

is continuing to document the pioneer artists in

she focused her research on cultural policy in the Arab

image, and an allegory that enables staying visible

the UAE while complementing this with a digital

World. f mahasharif

in a setting that masks presence. Tulic’s excavation

photography practice as she captures older areas in

of the hidden in plain sight in the landscape of art,

the Gulf. Ultimately, she hopes to record the histories

Nada Al Aradi is a Bahraini artist and curator. She

history, politics, and poetry is an experiment aimed

of the pioneer generations throughout the Gulf in the

received her MFA in Curatorial Practice in 2016 from

at arriving at an interpretational vessel that enables

upcoming year. Play her art trivia in her fun stories on

Maryland Institute College of Art, and her BFA in

attribution of social justice and reparations related

her Instagram f mideastart

Interior Design from New York Institute of Technology

meanings to works of art and other instances of life.

in 2009. She creates connections between art and

f sumejaa / www.sumejatulic.com

audiences through narratives, and in 2012 she

Yvonne McGahren has an MA in Creative Writing and

over ten years’ experience of editing and writing for

cofounded a socially responsive group, Ulafa’a . Her

Suzy Sikorski has been specializing in art history of

publications. Now a freelance features writer based in

exhibitions have been shown in non-profit galleries,

the Gulf region for over three years, completing her

Dubai, she is currently editing and contributing articles

federal museums, and grassroots organizations in the

thesis on three generations of artists history in the

to local magazines. She is writing a crime-fiction novel.

INDUSTRY

Vantage Point: SAF, Sharjah, UAE Vantage Point Sharjah 7 (VPS7) was the seventh iteration of Sharjah Art Foundation’s annual photography initiative. This year, for the first time, the open call is extended to international applicants.

This initiative aims to foster photographers’ creative development, and encourage engagement with the wider cultural community.

Over 200 applicants with a variety of professional backgrounds, skill sets and interests, responded to VPS7 open call. The exhibition features the work of 36 photographers from over 20 countries. The selected photographs offer viewers a unique perspective on various subjects by using different styles, such as conceptual photography, street photography, land and cityscapes and portraiture. The images demonstrate a wide range of techniques in both digital and 35mm photography, such as montage, collage, archival reconstruction, infrared and light painting.

The foundation announced its first open call in 2013, with a theme of ‘Life and Landscapes of Sharjah.’ Themes of other Vantage Point exhibitions have included ‘Self-Portraiture’, ‘Performance’ and ‘Architecture and Urban Landscape.’

Detail from Bahar Yürükoğlu (2016-2018) Courtesy of the artist

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INDUSTRY

Walid Raad, Let’s be honest, the weather helped 1998 (2006) Pigmented inkjet print, 46,8 x 72,4 cm. Courtesy the artist & Sfeir-Semler Gallery Hamburg / Beirut Walid Raad, Sweet talk commissions (Beirut 1994) (2018) video still. Courtesy the artist & Sfeir-Semler Gallery Hamburg / Beirut Walid Raad, Sweet talk commissions (Beirut 1994) (2018) video still. Courtesy the artist & Sfeir-Semler Gallery Hamburg / Beirut

On view in each room are often entirely new combinations of series from Raad’s three major longterm projects: The Atlas Group, Sweet Talk Commissions, and Scratching on things I could disavow.

For The Atlas Group (1989-2004), Raad created stories and documents about the Lebanese wars of the past few decades. Borrowing from the genres of literary fiction and conceptual photography, Raad imagines the records, characters and events that could have existed in times of war.

Let’s Be Honest, The Weather Helped: The Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam

Sweet Talk Commissions Beirut (1987–ongoing) is composed of various photo assignments. Beginning in the late 1980s, Raad starting commissioning himself to document Beirut’s changing urban landscape. He concentrated on the neighbourhoods on the margins of the urban battlegrounds. This project continued

In seven galleries the Lebanese-American artist Walid Raad presents his

in the ‘post-war’ as a new city centre emerged. Raad’s third project, Scratching

philosophical, politically charged and often witty vision of the complexities of

on things I could disavow (2007–ongoing), engages with how violence affects

the Lebanese Civil War and developments in contemporary art in the Middle East.

tradition and art in material and non-material ways.

The Place I Call Home: Touring the Gulf and three UK cities Drawing on the bustling and ever-changing lifestyles of millennials living in the Gulf and the UK, The Place I Call Home depicts the transition into a home abroad, sparking interaction between the two cultures and exploring ideas of belonging and foreignness. Presented by The British Council and curated

by Director of UK-based Ffotogallery, David Drake, the exhibition showcases the ‘power’ of photography as an accessible medium and creative form of expression with the selected photographic works of 12 budding artists, each of whom has lived in the Gulf and the UK. With a common theme of ’home,’ the featured works explore various aspects of culture, heritage and identity, challenging prevailing stereotypes.

Mohammed Alkouh. Qasr Al Salam. Courtesy of the artist

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INDUSTRY

When the Clouds Speak: Saint-Trophime Cloister, Arles Set within an ancient cathedral, Emeric Lhuisset’s When the Clouds Speak presents the photographer’s coverage of the century-old conflict in the Middle East.

Specifically, it is a multisensory installation that explores the disappearance of Kurdish culture in Turkey, and puts an opportunity for protest in the hands of the viewer.

Describing his own work as ‘counter-journalism,’ Lhuisset (winner of the BMW residency), seeks to break the taboo of speed and urgency central to photojournalism, aiming to start a dialogue with the viewer through a considered and deliberate approach to news.

Emeric Lhuisset, When the Clouds Speak, Musa Dagh, Turkey (2018-2019)

Inaugural Beirut Image Festival: Lebanon

Saeed Dhahi, Sameh Rahmi at Beirut Image Festival (2019)

Zakira – the Image Festival Association, in collaboration with Dar al Mussawir

photographs by 122 photographers from 25 countries, selected from a pool

and the Union of Arab Photographers, is launching the first Beirut Image

of over 3,800 images. There’s a large regional component, with more than

Festival taking place during the month of September 2019. The first of its

half the participants coming from Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt and Iraq. The

kind in Lebanon and a pioneering experience in the Arab World, the Beirut

Festival includes both indoor and outdoor exhibitions and activities that are

Image Festival will be an annual one-month regional photography fair held

open to the public, designed to foster cultural interaction and artistic dialogue

in Beirut and other major Lebanese cities and towns. The festival boasts 600

across Lebanon.

La Mer Patrie: Dar El-Nimer for Arts and Culture, Beirut La Mer Patrie, or ‘The Motherland,’ is a joint exhibition of photographers Fouad Elkoury and Jeremy Peacock. Around fifty photographs and an installation together question the notion of return by revisiting a significant era of the Palestinian cause - Beirut in the early 1980s. Moreover, the choice of exhibited photographs intends to examine the stereotypical image of Palestine, and the role of Palestinians in creating such an image.

Fouad Elkoury, Exile, Mediterranean Sea (1982) Courtesy of the artist

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INDUSTRY

Barry Iverson, Antikhana Street, from the series The Tour (2014) Archival pigment print. Printed with permission of Tintera Photographic Art Consultancy.

Barry Iverson, A Museum Visit 2005/1920s/ Star, from the series The Tour (2014) Archival pigment print. Printed with permission of Tintera Photographic Art Consultancy.

The Tour: Tintera Gallery, Cairo A solo presentation of Barry Iverson’s prints marks the official opening of Tintera’s Zamalek gallery. The exhibition showcases more than thirty-five black and white archival pigment prints and a selection of hand coloured photographs.

An oversized, handmade photographic album, in the tradition of the photographic tomes of

present, inhabitants and spaces, locals and visitors. Iverson’s work documents the fantastical nature of what

the 19th century, is displayed alongside original

were once real figures living in real times against the backdrop of enduring historical spaces that he encounters.

early travel and architectural photographs of Egypt. With Egypt and the Levant as magnetic

The exhibition invites us to consider Iverson’s works not as nostalgic imagery of historical ruins or remnants of

focal points for Iverson, the series creates a quiet

the past, but as documents of our own life history that we presently inhabit in the form of dreams, fantasies,

yet unsettling relationship between past and

memories and souvenirs.

Giulia Frigieri, Surfing Iran, Iran. Courtesy of the artist

Peter Jay, Dubai from the exhibition ABOVE: Aerial Photography Exhibition. Courtesy of Manarat Al Saadiyat

Portrait of Humanity: Traveling exhibition, worldwide

Above: Aerial Photography Exhibition: Manarat Al Saadiyat, Saadiyat Island

Portrait of Humanity is a new global initiative by 1854 Media,

ABOVE: Aerial Photography exhibition was organised by the Photography studio at Manarat Al

publisher of the British Journal of Photography. Its aim is to

Saadiyat, showcases the Emirates from the skies, and offers fascinating perspectives of the landscape

showcase portraits of unity, community and individuality.

from above. The aerial photography exhibition is the first in Abu Dhabi, and features a mix of prominent

Two hundred shortlisted photographs were published in the

local, regional and international artists and photographers, including American photographer Martin

Portrait of Humanity book and 50 winning images will be

Sanchez, and the Dubai based photographer Beno Saradzic. The images are displayed at floor level on

exhibited at various locations across the world to renowned

light boxes facing the ceiling, with others hung high on the wall. The exhibition is complimented with a

museums, galleries and international photography festivals.

series of workshops and master classes offered to professional photographers, artists and enthusiasts.

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REVIEW Images - Courtesy of Ithra. Writer - Abeer Mishkhas, journalist.

Ithra: Zamakan Eleven artists contemplate space and time through geometry, poetry and desert sounds Zamakan is an unusual expression, combining the

Here we see Malluh doing what she does best,

two Arabic words for time (zaman) and space (makan).

arranging an installation to draw the viewer in and

Ithra invited 11 contemporary Saudi artists to construct

make them feel part of the work. She contemplates the

artwork portraying their perspectives on the concepts

power of oil and its effect on every aspect of Saudi life.

of space and time.

Pestana sees Oil Candies as a “homage to the According to Candida Pestana, the exhibition’s

Kingdom and the changes brought by oil.” She

curator, “the artists were invited to reflect on these

discerns yet more meaning in the sheer size of the

concepts from both a physical and a philosophical

installation; some 74 oil barrels displayed across a 10

point of view, to explore distinctive spaces and

X 4 meters wall to represent “the enormous impact

dimensions in different times.”

of oil on the country,” said Pestana, adding that the crushed barrels, which resemble discarded candy

The results were individual interpretations of

wrappers, represent “the sugar rush you get from

‘Zamakan,’ drawing upon rich cultural heritage

candy,” or in this case, the “oil rush.” It has been a

as a unifying element. The exhibition showcases

burst of energy infused into the country, but what

the artists’ different art forms as sculpture, video,

happens when the rush is over?

photography and installations.

The artists talk about their space and their time. It’s their individual viewpoint, and they are addressing this particular community In this artwork, the artist uses agate stone, which is local to Saudi Arabia, to mark traces on a mould. Pestana

In The Sound of the Desert, Abdullah Al-Othman

explains that “each stone is different and each trace

Contrary to the vastness of the ‘Zamakan’ theme,

portrays himself within the context of the vast,

is different. What he is talking about is ecological

the exhibition draws from a specific space and time.

arid expanses of the country to reflect on the

communities. From a wider perspective, all stones

It is made by Saudi and Saudi based artists and

theme of the exhibition. His video performance

look the same, but when you get closer, you will be

addresses a Saudi audience. “The artists talk about

shows him in the middle of the desert, surrounded

astounded at how singular and unique each stone is.”

their space and their time. It’s their individual

by microphones, where the artist recorded a

Pestana sees in The Sailing Stone, the artist’s intent

viewpoint, and they are addressing their community.

performance while listening to the sounds around

in “exploring how individuality can be perceived in

We wanted to do an exhibition with concepts that

him at different times and from five different

different ways; it just depends on your perspective.”

are known to everyone, yet everyone has a different

angles. It is that sound change and variation that

notion about them,” said Pestana.

Al-Othman wants the viewer to perceive.

One of the works that resonates most strongly is a

The desert also inspired Ayman Zedani in his work

acquired and honed his skills of traditional woodcutting,

massive installation by Maha Malluh, entitled Oil

The Sailing Stone, which depicts a Saudi ecological

and in this exhibition, he puts his learning to good use

Candies, consisting of crushed oil barrels, each

journey through the natural phenomenon of rocks

by illustrating the power of geometrical shapes. Flow

brightly coloured and attached in rows to the wall. It’s

inscribing long tracks on the valley floor without

#2 arranges transparent PVC tubes in a pattern that

a reflection on the effects oil has had on Saudi Arabia.

human or animal intervention.

reflects the geometry of the space.

Ahmad Angawi works with geometry. While studying at the Prince’s School for Traditional Arts in London, he

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Gallery View: Aziz Jamal Play, (2019) Video loop

Gallery View: (left): Maha Malluh Oil Candies (2019) Variable dimensions Center: Dana Awartani Love is my Law, Love is my Faith (2016) Embroidery on silk, 200 x 200 cm

Gallery View: Omar Abduljawad Thuluth (2018) Sandstone, painted steel tube, paint on laser etched acrylic and programmable LED strips, 333.6 x 333.6 x 333.3 cm

Dana Awartani delves into the world of words of interpreting eight love poems by Ibn Arabi, a 12th-century mystic, poet and philosopher whose verses of divine love were inspired by his visit to Makkah and encapsulated his feelings when standing in front of the Kaaba. Awartani elucidates Ibn Arabi’s compounded sense of fear and love that filled him as he looked at that sacred cube, standing as an intermediary between the human and the divine.

Awartani’s interpretation of the poems is both mystical and thought-provoking. She went to India to seek out traditional embroiderers. Her screens were handmade there, with patterns that reflect Awartani’s love of geometrical shapes and combinations. The screens are hung in rows to form a perfect cube and, by standing in front of them, the viewer is drawn into a meditative state, a search for their inner spirit.

Each of the 11 works tries, in its own way, to construe the space and time factors through personal viewpoints. Some manage to mesmerise the viewer and connect with them through the visual beauty of composition and material. Others take their viewer on an abstract journey, leaving them to find their own way through intricate and symbolic messages.

Zamakan is showing until October 26 at King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra), Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

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Moath Alofi, I am One (2019) Digital print on Photo Rag, 200 x 140 cm The Family (2019) Digital print on Photo Rag, 200 cm x 140 cm The Scene (2019) Digital print on Photo Rag, 200 cm x 130 cm

Aziz Jamal Play, (2019) Video loop

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Abdullah Al-Othman, Sound of the Desert, (2018) Sound and video installation, 8:20 minutes

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REVIEW Images - Courtesy of Jameel Arts Centre.

Writer - Christopher Joshua Benton, artist, creative director and journalist.

Jameel Arts Centre: Farah Al Qasimi Entering the Interzone These days the virtual and the real appear to be

what appears to be an old family photo book. ‘I

collapsing into each other. Not only are we easily

think of obfuscation as protection,’ Al Qasimi said

confused by what is real or fake, but sometimes

in an interview with Tribe. “I try to seek meaning in

the artificial appears even more real. It’s at this

gesture, or movement, or social dynamic rather than

intersection where one finds the complex work

in facial expression or visibility.”

of Farah Al Qasimi, whose excellent survey for Jameel Arts Centre brings the Abu Dhabi-raised,

Elsewhere in the show, we see an American soldier

Yale-educated, New York City based photographer

being consoled or pulled away while taking a

back to the Emirates.

phone call. While in Gaith at Home we see a Khaleeji man eyes-closed in repose atop crisp bed

Interestingly Dragon Mart, Dubai’s kaleidoscopically

linens. Al Qasimi, always the master colour stylist,

kitsch emporium of everything, and the largest

bathes the scene in shadow and dims the man in

Chinese market outside of China, is the subject of

white, just a few hints of skin to guide your eye.

about a third of the works in the show. Originally

The subject’s gesture is tentative and suspended

commissioned as part of Art Dubai’s Global Art

between frames: is he about to tie his ghutra? Is he

Forum, these deadpan images consolidate many of

practicing kundalini finger meditation? The image,

Al Qasimi’s leitmotifs—an interest in the hyperreal,

of course, is posed—but it feels real, candid. Images

the sci-fi artifice of the Gulf, and perceptions of

like these complicate and subvert the expectation

class and taste (and its signifiers)—and cranks them

of power through striking moments of intimacy and

Installation view of Artist’s Rooms

up to larger-than-life proportions. My favourite is

fragility. “The Emirates is a society that upholds

Photo courtesy of Jameel Arts Centre

Dragon Mart LED Display, which (incredulously!)

social boundaries and formalities, particularly across

contemporises Dutch still-life and folds it into a

genders” Al Qasimi told us. “I’m trying to break

Technicolor window display, brim-full of Shenzhen-

down some of these boundaries by entering spaces

via-Yiwu motorized tchotchkes, plastic flowers and

you don’t normally see, hinting at personal lives and

art. And yet, regardless of the photographic or

LED strips.

informal moments.”

artistic tradition, the result is unmistakably Farah Al Qasimi.

Quickly you will notice many of the figures in these

Across these 19 images, Al Qasimi skillfully presents

photographs are implied, camouflaged, obscured,

various modes of photo-making, from appropriating

Stare into the images long enough and you might

or silhouetted—but never fully seen. This ambiguity

the glossy seductive aesthetics of commercial fashion

fall into them. Al Qasimi’s brand of Gulf Futurism is

creates a sense of the uncanny, inviting the viewer

photography in M Napping on Carpet, to flâneur-

less ironic than her contemporaries, but probably

to interrogate the mise en scène for clues of

mode street photography in her Dragon Mart series.

more complex—offering up a sentimental, nostalgic,

narratives, place and context. In one image a man

Her trademark wall wraps, which often background

and critical window that is world-building for a space

pulls a disappearing act in a billow of smoke; while

other framed photos as wallpaper would, add a

identical to the Emirates but weirder, parallel to

in another, two males are blacked out by time in

trompe l’oeil tableau, while also signaling installation

what we see everyday, yet altogether more fantastic.

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M Napping on Carpet (2016) Courtesy of the artist and The Third Line gallery. Photo courtesy of Jameel Arts Centre

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Curtain Shop (2019) Courtesy of the artist and The Third Line gallery. Photo courtesy of Jameel Arts Centre

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Living Room Vape (2016) Courtesy of the artist and The Third Line gallery.

Photo courtesy of Jameel Arts Centre

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Dragon Mart LED Display (2018) Courtesy of the artist and The Third Line gallery. Photo courtesy of Jameel Arts Centre

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REVIEW Images - Courtesy of the artist and Tashkeel.

Writer - Maha Alsharif, writer and critic.

Jalal Bin Thaneya: Beyond the Fence Exploring the collateral value of waste Beyond the Fence, a photography exhibition by

majority of his time trying to get permission to enter.

Jalal Bin Thaneya, explores the collateral value of

With his creativity distracted and his time limited,

industrial products and waste. The photographs

Bin Thaneya experienced unforeseen technical and

of raw industrial structures are nearly to scale, and

conceptual challenges.

document the workings of industrial facilities. They also speak about the artist’s experience having gone

To achieve the aesthetic quality he envisioned,

through a lengthy and unconventional security

timing was a critical element. Bin Thaneya says, “I

process to gain access into these facilities. The

don’t take pictures all year round, there’s a certain

final series of images not only captures what these

time of the year during which I make images,” so

facilities are and how they operate, but also brings

unanticipated delays risked losing the apt natural

attention to less obvious yet important ways they

light he required. While he initially used 4 x 5 film,

contribute to modern living.

which takes about two weeks to develop between Dubai, Berlin and New York, he had to find a faster

Taking stylistic inspiration from photographers

alternative in digital cameras. He then was able to

like Margret Bourke-White, Paul Strand, Edward

achieve comparable quality using a medium format

Burtynsky and Charles Schieler, Bin Thaneya presents

Hasselblad camera.

industrial environments in their raw states, using straightforward techniques that rely on natural light

On the conceptual level, the artist’s experience to

to compliment the subjects and surroundings. He

obtain entry permits made him aware of the impact

presents in a direct and objective way the very

these facilities have that transcends the industrial

things that hide in plain sight, but that have a strong

and economic aspects. A threat to them means a

position and impact within society.

threat on the country’s security, stability, political and economic foundations, environment and public

At times the pictures are in carefully polished frames.

health, and ultimately potential growth.

For the photos, the artist directs his lens to rough arcane locations that make many modern activities,

Although the images of steel structures, tire piles,

like easy transportation, possible. Considering how

and tired engines in the series appear cold and

the oil and gas industries are at the core of many

disconnected from the human experience, the

others, the artist captures details of oil refineries and

viewer identifies with the artist’s vantage point and

scrapyards where raw materials and industrial waste

presence. In addition to the images, the viewer

are processed. The images present these locations

relates to Thaneya’s process and experience of

in unglamorous stages of their life cycles. However

physically reaching beyond the fence, which in this

due to safety and security regulations, his project

case functions also as a performative medium that

was obstructed and he was forced to spend the

opens a dialogue on much broader subjects.

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Rims 01 (2018) 133 x 166 cm

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Axel Wall 1 (2018) 133 x 166 cm

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Gears 01 (2018) 133 x 166 cm

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Tire Wall 02 (2018) 133 x 166 cm

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Drive Shafts 01 (2018) 126 x 166 cm

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REVIEW Images - Courtesy of the artists. Writer - Nada Al Aradi, artist and curator.

For Your Inconsideration Portraying the passage of time For the first time at Bait Al Salmaniya, and for

Hanan Hassan Al Khalifa’s Ageing Aphrodites may

most of the region, an intensely conceptual and

be equally confusing: playing with the collision of

strictly typological photographic exhibition was

aesthetics and the paradox of beauty and decay.

presented. Although typological photography

By photographing posters of beautiful women,

has spread globally, and more recently seeped

she captures the effect of the flow of time on the

into Bahrain, this is one of the first exhibitions

subject, rather than a frozen moment in time. In

dedicated solely to this style. For a public

doing so, she comments on the human condition:

accustomed to street, landscape and journalistic

a photograph of a deteriorating photograph.

photography, this exhibition is likely to turn

Not only does this series of images represent a

many heads, as it separates itself from the pack

continuing line of time and decline it also acts

with its unusual content and approach.

as a mirror: allowing the viewer to question their own mortality and social depictions of female

At photography’s inception, it was expensive and

beauty as timeless and enduring.

timely, and available to the few and privileged– that meant only the decidedly important could

Bader Al Balawi’s kiosks are framed by the empty

be the subject of a picture. In today’s modern

sky and horizon. Similar in nature to Algosaibi’s

world, even though cameras are available to

abandoned cars, these kiosks are documented

the masses, that concept remains. This brings

in a manner that creates the impression that the

us to our four photographers, capturing the

images are identical at first, until the details of

discarded and deteriorating types; ascending

each place reveal themselves: the lights, people,

them to a stage.

and cars re dotted across the landscape. His final image is the bare seafront that serves as a

At first glance, most of these works may appear

nod to the kiosks ephemeral nature and which

meaningless, causing the audience to question

are fleeting in the face of persistent large-scale

why anyone would photograph and exhibit

urban developments.

wrecked cars, as Faris Algosaibi has. Why

At photography’s inception, it was expensive and timely, and available to the few and privileged – that meant only the decidedly important could be the subject of a picture What is most impressive about this collection of four artists is their derivation from the expected.

in this manner? Each image is shot at nearly

Asma Murad’s structures reach far beyond

Rather than being concerned with beautiful or

identical angles, at night, and with a front-facing

the image she presents. In showing decrepit

precious objects, they shine light on overlooked

view. Algosaibi has unified the subject into a

architecture and silent abandoned homes, she

and unwanted elements of the region’s ever-

single frame; a mugshot of abandoned cars. He

invites that audience to view these places as

changing landscape and ask what these objects

removes external influences exposing only the

stages. A timeline of events sit, at the core of

represent in today’s modern world. In moving

uniqueness of each individual car. He documents

these images, and we are asked to contemplate

beyond photography’s typical purpose of

their state, and acknowledges their existence,

the human history that unfolded and took place

capturing a single moment in time, they are also

before they are removed from the scene.

at these locations.

able to portray the passage of time itself.

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Asma J. Murad from the series Traces “These photographs represent the remains of buildings that have been demolished to give way to new construction. These traces, at some point, provided shelter and security to those inhabiting them before they decided to relocate. They have witnessed many stories (birth of new children, university graduations, marriages of elderly couples, the departure of elders, and ending of relationships of couples that were once madly in love) and remain keepers of deep secrets. These traces stand now in silence before they disappear indefinitely. Through these photographs, I invite the viewer to contemplate what it was like to live in these abandoned places when they were once inhabited.�

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Bader Al Balawi, Balilah Khushks (2014) 12 photos (typology) 50 x 33 cm This experimental photojournalistic work emerged from the artist’s observation, and appreciation for the forms of the kiosks and their alignment stretched out across the beach, on his daily commute. There are two transitional states in this collection. The first is the relationship and intercommunication between each of the images to one another, and the different activities that occurred on the same space. The second is the disappearance of these kiosks, which were eventually removed by the municipality to be replaced by modern and fashionable food trucks.

Faris Algosaibi Abandoned (2017-2018) Print on photo rag, 370 x 130 cm “It is hard to think of anything less valuable or desirable than an abandoned old car. Or worse still, a wrecked abandoned car. A picture of such a car is certainly worth even less. However, if you take enough pictures, the cars take on personalities. They can be anthropomorphised, become sculptures, or tell a [tragic] story. These images were selected from a series comprising 300 images.�

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Hanan Hassan Al Khalifa, Clockwise: Front Looking, Left Side Showing, Second Left and Touching Herself From the series Ageing Aphrodites (2017) 40.6 x 50.8 cm Six authentic images on the wall, left for a very long time, welcoming women to enter a beauty salon to change their appearances to be like Aphrodite. However, nothing lasts as time is fleeting and impermanent.

These places portray beautiful images of white-skinned movie starts, and lure women into a single construct of beauty, void of individuality. The posters kept outside shrank and lost their colours, they became damaged from the sun, rain, wind, dust, and other environmental elements. Indeed, nothing lasts forever.

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REVIEW Images - Courtesy of the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

Writer - Yvonne McGahren, creative writer.

Louvre Abu Dhabi: An Early Album of the World Connections between civilisations In the current day it’s hard to imagine a world without

Lima, Peru in 1852 had lost none of its lustre. There is

photographs and places without cameras. The Louvre

a salt paper print by the Anglo German photographer

Abu Dhabi’s first photography exhibition takes us back

Ernest Benecke of a dead crocodile on a boat on the

in time to the pioneering steps of photography and

Nile, Egypt. Despite this startling image, the view of

how it has influenced civilisation.

the sea behind the boat which was barely perceptible, looks like an ancient mist from a by-gone era.

Photographs 1842 – 1896: An Early Album of the World (April 25 – July 13, 2019) is a captivating walk through

The print of The Maharani of Nepal and her ladies in

more than 250 of some of the first images from the

waiting, Nepal 1885-1894 was the stand-out print. It’s

Middle East, Africa, Asia, India and the Americas.

a scene of opulence, the Maharani sits, encircled by the ample material of her dress and ten women stand

The Director Manuel Rabaté stands under the vast

behind her with their unyielding facial expressions. This

dome of interconnected geometric shapes that

is an albumen print which was the first commercially

blankets the Louvre Abu Dhabi. “Photography is a

exploitable method using albumen found in egg whites

visual language; it gives us a way of being universal

to bind the photographic chemicals to the paper.

to visitors.”

perhaps even resulting in the desire to either go to these places to take more images themselves. We see

There is an enchanting street scene in Canton, China,

the way its popularity started to spread as photographic

There are works by prominent international

1870-1890, with its overhanging signs crowding

studios started to open up across the globe, catering

photographers as well as travellers and sailors. It is

an alleyway by leading 19th-century Chinese

to public demand, whether for family portraits, royal

evident how much time was taken in choosing the

photographer Lai Fong. An aristotype print, which

photographers or even to satisfy the needs of the court,

images. The exhibition’s curator Christine Barthe,

was the first industrial paper production process that

the list goes on. “Creativity is universal,” Rabaté says

Head of Photographic Collections Heritage Unit, at

was ready to use. And Barthe’s favourite print? The

as he pauses to view an illuminated map showing the

the Musée du quai Branly-Jaques Chirac said, ‘It was

serene face of a young woman, Ethiopia, 1885.

timeline of the photograph as it increased around the

important to give the public a beautifully rich print

world. “The technical process can be universally shared.

but we also wanted to find out when and how the

Aside from the beautiful prints, what stood out was

local people did this? It opened up a lot of research.’

the monumental influence that photography has had

This had a huge impact on the world of connection.”

on the world in terms of connection, image-making

This is a fascinating exhibition that gives visitors a rare

Each picture is striking, transporting you back in

techniques, creativity and travel. Local people may

chance to view the burgeoning impact photography

time and across the globe. It’s not just the variety of

well have been taught techniques by travellers passing

had in its early years. Now in the present day, where

images that impress but also the different photographic

through. Many of these photographs would be taken

we are confronted with a continuous feed of imagery,

techniques used. For example, a daguerreotype

by wealthy tourists or persons on diplomatic missions or

it’s refreshing to think about the impact of a single

photograph (this was the first publicly available

archaeological and scientific expeditions. These images

historical image, a moment in time, influential to those

photographic process) of a smartly dressed couple from

would give an impression to those in far off lands,

who have viewed it then and now.

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Seeing Things 1, 2 and 10. Photos by Ismail Noor for the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi

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Portrait of a Young Woman, Ethiopia, September 1885 – November 1888. Jules Borelli (1852–1941) Albumen print. Paris, Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac Photo credit: © musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Dist. RMN – Grand Palais / image musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac

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Clockwise: Native of Urcos. © Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Dist. RMN – Grand Palais image Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac

A Street, Canton, China, 1870 – 1890 Lai Fong (c. 1839 – 1890) Aristotype print Paris, musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac Photo credit: © Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Dist. RMN – Grand Palais / image musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac

Portrait of Sir Pratab Singh, Maharajah of Orchla with his entourage, India, 1882 Lala Deen Dayal (1844 – 1905) Albumen print, Paris, Musée National des Arts Asiatiques – Guimet Photo credit: © MNAAG, Paris, Dist. RMN – Grand Palais / image Musée Guimet

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The Maharani of Nepal and her Ladies in Waiting.

Nepal. 1885 – 1894 Johnston & Hoffmann (Active 1880 – 1950) Albumen print Paris, musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac Photo credit: © musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Dist. RMN – Grand Palais / image musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac

Dead crocodile on a boat on the Nile, Egypt, 1852 Ernest Benecke (1817 - 1894) Salt paper print. Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Manuscripts Department. Émile Prisse d’Avennes Egyptian Collection. Photo credit: © Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris

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Clockwise: Portrait of a couple. Lima. 1852 -1856 Benjamin Franklin Pease (1822 - 1888) Daguerreotype. Stamped Pease bottom left of the mount. Retratista bottom right. Paris, Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac

Emir Abd el-Kader (aged 57), born in Maskara (Province of Oran, Algeria), Paris, 1865 Jacques Philippe Potteau (1807 – 1876) Albumen print. Paris, musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac

View of the Holy Shrine and the City of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, 1881 Muhammad Sadiq Bey (1822 – 1902) Photographic print. Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Rare Books Reserve Photo credit: © Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris

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REVIEW Images - Courtesy of the artist.

Writer - Janet Bellotto, artist, educator and writer.

Larissa Sansour: Heirloom Exploring memory and identity through science fiction at the Venice Biennale “Entire nations are built on fairytales,” states the character

after the disaster. Alia, the young clone of the scientist

Dunia, responding to Alia in a conversation about memory

Dunia, argues with her about the lived and recollected

and the past in Larissa Sansour’s In Vitro. This two-channel

experience. Dunia lays in her death bed dreaming to

film is part of her presentation Heirloom, curated by Nat

return to a past or her home rebuilt. We experience

Muller, for the Danish Pavilion at the 58th International

memories that Dunia clings to along with those that are

Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.

collective and archived through the cloned existence of Alia. As a clone, memories have been implanted, and

Heirloom also includes the mixed media installation

Alia carries the experience of others of a place bygone.

with soundscape Monument for Lost Time, which is

As a new place rebuilds, Alia has a strong will for her

encountered in a room across from the film projection.

own identity and experiences rather than the ones she

The enormous sculpture of an ominous black sphere,

inherited.

with surround synthesized sound, dwarfs the visitors to the pavilion and reflects back to images seen in the

The function of memory is brought to task and questions

film—science fiction infiltrating the real. However, it is

the necessity and the impact of nostalgia. Where does

the narrative of this world underground that explores

an individual’s memory begin and when is it reinvented

nostalgic memories and hope of a future rebuilt.

by the stories of others? Dunia argues how “We were all raised on someone else’s nostalgia.” Yet Alia states, “The

The black and white film opens with a wave of black

problem with nostalgia is that it keeps you entertained…”

oil rushing through the streets of Bethlehem. It

and continues “...while everything you cherish washes

encapsulates a sensation of destruction of all the blood

away.” Deafened by the past and questioning the

lost and memories washed away. Along with transitions

building of the future, inherited trauma, along with the

between archival footage and the narrative past of

role that memories play, weave throughout the scenes. As

the character Dunia, we cannot forget the events of

time navigates from past to future in the film, charged with

Bethlehem’s complex and turbulent history. The story

ownership, heritage, as well as exile, it raises questions:

is set after an ecological disaster of Bethlehem and life

whether the erasure of memory and the neglecting of

living underground—embedding its metaphor for a

clinging to nostalgia would be better for the future, or

life suppressed but safeguarded from threat, while the

whether memories are necessary to avoid future mistakes

Palestinian city can be reconstructed or restored. We

and the construction of a new identity.

see an orchard being replanted, cloning from the seeds that remained.

Heirloom, and in particular In Vitro, provides no immediate consolation for the future in face of disaster, but engages

The film’s title clues the viewer that the character has

the notions of memory both its potential prospect and

been made, and in fact a clone from remaining DNA

hinderance for new beginnings.

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Larissa Sansour and Søren Lind. Installation view of In Vitro, 2-channel black and white film. 27 mins 44 secs, 2019. Photo by Ugo Carmeni Larissa Sansour and Søren Lind. Installation view of A Monument for Lost Time, 2019. Photo by Ugo Carmeni

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Larissa Sansour and Søren Lind. In Vitro, 2-channel black and white film. 27 mins 44 secs, 2019. Courtesy of the artists.

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FEATURE Images - Courtesy of the artist.

Writer - Inspired by Zhivago Duncan, written by Kit Hammonds, curator.

Zhivago Duncan: Desert Sublime Of myth and imagination, an interpretation of the artist and his work in the Jordan desert Among a scatter of papers I came across by accident

without walls, the apparent target a lonely looking

was a handful of photographs, each labeled for the

white panel now splattered with gunshots and paint

archive of Dr Tiq. While waiting for my own box

explosions. The shooter was the artist I had been

request, I broke archival protocol, idly flipping the

sent to observe who looked about as American as

images over to find hand-written notes on the backs,

anyone could in jeans, a t-shirt and a baseball cap,

presumably written by the doctor. The first image

holding the automatic rifle in one hand and a glass

casually captured a rifle in a dilapidated car interior.

in the other poured from at least two bottles further down the track than the one that had urged me

“The harsh rattle of Kalashnikov gun fire and a

to retire, and was responsible for the stiletto pain

procession of echoes from nearby cliffs brought me to

that passed from the back of my eyes at isometric

consciousness by stabbing into my already throbbing

angles through my brain.”

skull. While I parsed reality from the troubled dreams,

The artist and his entourage and the local crew had worked as if on a film set, grabbing food on the go, each going about their task to meet the deadline of nightfall

fearful adrenalin took hold that these shots might be

“The day had been a frenzy of activity without formal

directed at the abandoned car that I found myself

break. The artist and his entourage and the local crew

curled up in. It was not that unusual to hear gunfire

had worked as if on a film set, grabbing food on the

in the Jordan’s desert region of Rum. But this seemed

go, each going about their task to meet the deadline

to be closer than normal. Reason slowly overtook fear

of nightfall. Here the desert was the studio, art not so

journalist Justin Dustin, a man whose demeanour

as I remembered this was part of the plan, but still I

much in situ as completely outside of it. In preparation

was reminiscent of Dennis Hopper in Apocalypse

raised my head cautiously in case a stray bullet found

I had done some research into other artists working

Now, came over with another scotch, but all I wanted

me as its unexpected target.”

in the vast expanses—mainly Americans—the beat

was water. At the astro-archeological conventions I

poets and land artists in particular. New to me, the

was more used to attending, I prided myself on the

The next photographs pictured a paint-splattered

poetic, philosophical and intimate writings and works

ability to hold my own in receptions and bars. Here

canvas, a mechanical horse and an illuminated truck,

of Robert Smithson naturally satisfied my bookish

I was gravely out of my depth. Even over the short

each standing alone in landscapes of rock and sand.

curatorial interests. Smithson saw his own distant ‘sites’

distance, I had to stop twice from a swimming head,

The notes continued:

in the null industrial hinterlands as condensing a deep

and at one point rested on a mechanical children’s

past with a science-fiction future. But what was taking

ride that sprang into action as I leaned on it, rocking

“Through the dusty glass the light of the stars shone

place here was different, not merely geographically,

and signing, without reason, in Chinese. It was just

over gloomy sands and rocky outcrops. A couple

but also for the sense of the suspended and isolated

one of the set pieces for this shoot that broke down

of hundred meters away was the mob that had

present that was being created in the fraction of a

this border where white and red sands met into a

brought me here milling around in a halogen oasis

second that it takes for a camera shutter to click. “

disorderly dystopia of cultures. With the gunfire over,

cast by the headlamps of a bulldozer. It was an

the bulldozer was now in operation, pouring sand

unruly scene and an unruly group of Bedouins and

“As I finally dragged myself out of the car a spry

from its shovel while video images were projected

westerners. The lamps created a shooting gallery

photographer—the French-Morrocan photo-

onto cascading walls of sand.’’

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Ghost Portrait of the Artist swinging a light in the desert night (2014) Digital C-print, 100 x 150 cm

I sat mystified and mesmerized by Dr Tiq’s commentaries. Still waiting for the

moved from their headquarters due to political tensions. They did have a

archivist to return from the storage with my request, I pulled out my phone

number of images that one might assume to be by Justin Dustin rather than a

and, resting on an empty glass display case whose fabric interior had exposed

local photographer, framed as they are in the lineage of the American Sublime

the sun-bleached outlines of the objects that had once sat within, I searched

tradition and doctored with symbols of the United States desert highways. A

for the doctor to pass the time. Although the Wiki page was little more than a

further name arose, Zhivago, although it was not clear from other fragmentary

stub, it seemed he had been something of a polymath. While his core discipline

notes if this was a singular artist or the composite name applied to the crew

was in the alignment of ancient civilizations’ architecture to the stars—the

(given his origins appeared to be a merger of Middle Eastern, European and

birth of geometry—he had a sideline in reporting on art exhibitions for a local

American at different times). Among Dr Tiq’s notes was a single live round

newspaper. Oddly, the search also turned up an obituary dated for only three

of high caliber ammunition. The paper tag indicated the round to be surplus

months prior. One passage caught my attention:

from the Syrian Civil War, available on the black market in the deserts during the early 2000s. What emerges from the complex of temporary studio of

“The respected and widely travelled academic entered into the public eye in

nowhere is still to be defined, but the photographs stand as testament to

his later year through his unusual reporting of cultural events having adopted a

something that did occur, and is still to be synthesized within a history of art

Jordanian iteration of the gonzo journalism of the American Hunter S Thompson

and of the region.

famed for his “Fear and Loathing’’ series. His frequent collaborations with Justin Dustin, who had originally arrived in Jordan as a photojournalist during the

This is a first attempt to reconstruct the events that brought about Zhivago

conflicts, were seen as a landmark in liberal reportage. Despite a reputation for

Duncan’s featured works, and capture in spirit, if not always in fact, the

provoking the ire of establishments, and for embracing Western conventions,

circumstances, influences, histories and narratives in which it is situated. These

they were now understood as spearheading a local investigation into the fluid,

photographs are documents that bear witness to the events that occurred in

nomadic cultures that exist outside of the urban centers and the modern state.’’

the Rum Deserts. But they are also part of a story in the making, one whose reality is more fluid and unfixed, but no less truthful. Dr Tiq, Justin Dustin, and

When the archivist finally appeared with the items I requested, I returned them

other characters populate this alternative history as Zhivago and I elucidate

and began instead to piece together more details of what Dr Tiq had been

the missing archives, catalogue texts, museum and provenance labels, and

witness to in the desert. No newspaper report appeared to be produced that

reviews. What happened in the Rum deserts is true—but who was there, and

I could tell, although their records were also incomplete having been forcibly

which role they played, are details that remains to be written.

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2001 Vandalized (2014) Digital C-print, 100 x 150 cm Next Page: Playground (2014) Digital C-print, 100 x 150 cm

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Money Shot and Night Light (2014) Digital C-print, 100 x 150 cm

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Holey Opening (2014) Digital C-print, 100 x 150 cm

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ESSAY Images - Courtesy of the artist. Writer - Suzy Sikorski, art historian and writer.

Ahlam Shibli: Uncovering the Signs of Invisibility Triggering ideas of the past, present and the impending future As the acclaimed late Palestinian artist and writer

35mm photographs in both colour and black and

Kamal Boullata wrote on Shibli’s work in 2003:

white that relate to universal human notions of

“Ahlam is her given name. “Dreams” is what it

existence and belonging, mostly in Middle Eastern

means in Arabic. The state of dreaming may be a

and European communities. Within Palestinian

product of past experiences. The word “dreams,”

photography, pioneers like Khalil Raad in 1890,

however, points to the future. Ahlam Shibli captures

followed by others such as Issa Sawabini, Dad

a present moment that is the product of what may

Sabounji and Karema Abood, documented

look like a distant past when her eye is set on the

everyday lives in Jaffa and developed the basis

future. To see in what way the photographs of

for a national photographic discourse. However with

Ahlam Shibli are constructed in a syntax familiar

Ahlam Shibli (born in Palestine in 1970), we consider

to her mother tongue, and how the memories

complex discontinuities through a multitude of

they capture addresses itself to a future in which

signs, viewing her works as visual texts within a

a moment in time photographed may mirror

larger context. These images encourage the viewer

another, one has to forget how we are used to

to contemplate and search for specific signifiers to

seeing photographs. Having been all used to seeing

trigger ideas of the past, present and the impending

photographs as a record by which we fix the present

future, and find subjective recognition or familiarity

instant to keep a memory alive, or to substantiate

within the visuals. Her hyper-visual images draw

evidence for future retrieval, we cannot believe that

deeper attention to everyday life, and shift our

a photograph could be an image that interchanges

understanding of non-represented communities

a past moment with a future one.”

as they are depicted in media images, closing the

— Kamal Boullata, Cassandra and the Photography

distance between documentary and spontaneous

of the Invisible (2003)

intimacy, and between critical detachment and compassionate engagement.

Palestinian artist Ahlam Shibli uses photography to

Shibli’s hyper-visual images draw deeper attention to everyday life, and shift our understanding of marginalized communities as they are depicted in media images

narrate a rich, complex and developed language

Shibli’s works highlight the contradictory and under-

documenting generic moments found within

appreciated. The artist regularly collects research,

marginalized communities who struggle with a

resulting in a deep understanding of the nature of

sense of belonging and home for themselves.

people, both within Palestine and in marginalized

Spain, France and Germany, as she explores the

Beginning her work in 1996, Shibli has reviewed

communities in Eastern and Western Europe.

diverse social dynamics of the family and provides

her material in groups of images, compiling

Shibli’s images are extremely moving yet entirely

a visual analysis of the landscapes they occupy. Her

nearly thirty photographic series that have been

undramatic. Viewers feel a certain proximity to the

photographs feature carefully chosen arrangements

exhibited internationally at Documenta 14, the

subjects, amplified by close compositions as the

of interior and exterior scenes, of landscapes and

São Paulo Biennial and numerous shows in Spain,

artist literally places herself within the daily activities

houses; we pay attention to the people and the

Portugal, France, Canada, Austria, Jordan, Italy,

and lives of these people. Her research relates to

objects inhabiting the compositions, and notice the

Poland and others. Her series are carefully chosen

particular communities in Palestine, Jordan, Poland,

deliberate staging and framing choices.

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Untitled (Self Portrait no. 3, 10 and 15) (2000) Palestine, chromogenic print, 16.21 x 25 cm

Raised in Palestine from a family of farmers, at a young age Shibli had a keen observance of people and places. Considering the artist’s ‘Self-Portrait’ series, completed in 2000 in Palestine, none of the images are of Shibli herself. A young girl is seen in the distance in a field. She is exploring her surroundings with curiosity, wandering and finding her way underneath a bridge and in between the bushes. Her back is turned towards us or we are confronted with a cropped image of her feet. Shibli balances between the invisible and the visible. The images of the girl blend with the landscape and the distance between the camera and the subject acts as a visual tool for merging past with present. The series is a narration between time present and time past and gives materiality to contrasting concepts of memory and prediction, the seen and the unseen, and interior and exterior.

Within Palestinian communities, Shibli captures the diversity of living situations found both in private and public spaces, and aims to illustrate a sense of belonging to and intimacy with the location. This is manifested within a mosaic of human gestures, language and archival documents and objects.

The Arab al-Sbaih (Jordan, 2007) series has been photographed at four different places, the Irbid Refugee Camp, Irbid City, the al-Baqa’a Refugee Camp and Amman, documenting three generations of Palestinian refugees who have been living there since the 1948 Nakba. The refugees in Jordan depicted in the series attempt to preserve the memory of their homeland while physically being absent from it. They do so by naming their shops

Untitled from the series Arab al-Sbaih no.22, Jordan (2007) Chromogenic print, 38 x 57.7 cm

Untitled from the series Arab al-Sbaih no. 5, Jordan (2007) Gelatin silver print, 57.7 x 38 cm

after places in Palestine and reproducing the social structure of their original villages. The images are of run-down streets and sidewalks, writings and drawings on walls, and of tombstones at the Cemetery of Martyrs. Improvised houses are shown, filled with family photographs and precious keepsakes.

A sense of intimacy registers within these photographs, highlighted by the fact that the individual communities have come to make these places their home, and carry on in their drive to preserve their collective identity.

We notice this in the faces of the people who populate the streets and it is apparent in the carefully chosen interior decor of their homes, and the new spaces they have created to pay their respects to the deceased.

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Occupation (al-Khalil/Hebron, Palestine,

series Horse Race in Jericho (Jericho, Palestine,

Clockwise: Untitled (Occupation no. 19), Hebron, Palestine (2016 - 2017)

2016-17) explores the social fabric of al-Khalil/

1997), we again notice a spatial distance, and

Chromogenic print, 40 x 26,7 cm. House of Masarra al-Swaity, al-Ja’abari

Hebron, most notably in its urban areas. Shibli’s

the absence and presence of community. This

neighborhood, Old Town, al-Khalil, December 14, 2016. In order to

images leave no doubt in their viewers mind:

horse race was captured in the wake of the Oslo

protect themselves the family installed metal sheets around their house.

Palestinians are bound to a limited space in the

Agreement which stipulated Jericho and Gaza

Old Town and to an environment defined by

to be placed under the control of a Palestinian

borders. However, her images do not force the

authority. Instead of focusing on the horses, the

chromogenic print, 40 × 60 cm. Playground, Souq al-Haddadeen, Hay

viewer to focus on this destruction. Shibli’s goal

work creates an analogy between the excitement

al-Yahud/Avraham Avinu settlement, Old Town, al-Khalil, December 21,

is not to concentrate on oppression or abuse.

of the spectators who are unaware of the horse

2016. The wall behind the playground of the settlement is the backside of

Instead she uses her camera from a distance,

racing rules and the unfounded expectations

Palestinian blacksmith’s shops. Palestinians are absolutely prohibited from

segmenting the space and creating within it a

connected to the Oslo Agreement. Considering

entering the area of Souq al-Haddadeen (blacksmith’s shops).

moment of serenity. There is a sense of peace, a

the black and white images, the viewer feels

tranquil aftermath. Shibli fixes her spaces in time,

both distant and close—the monochrome colour

Untitled (Occupation no. 30), al-Khalil/Hebron, Palestine, (2016–2017)

after they’ve been affected by the passing of

creates a sense of temporal detachment, while

Chromogenic print, 100 x 150 cm. Al-Sahleh Street, al-Qaitoun

time. Rarely do people appear, save for children.

the spectators appear on different spatial planes,

neighborhood, Old Town, al-Khalil, October 20, 2016. The Abu al-Rish

Instead, life and presence is suggested with

confusing our interpretation of what is close

checkpoint located in al-Sahleh Street, south of al-Haram al-Ibrahimi

bold colours, found in the playgrounds, plants,

and what is far. We are unable to make sense

(Abraham’s Mosque/Cave of the Patriarchs), is named after the Abu

windows and roofs, and in subtle clues that

of what the spectators are looking at. There is

al-Rish mosque and shrine next to it. The checkpoint separates the

point to how a community is internalizing its

a juxtaposition of playfulness and seriousness,

Abu Sunaina and al-Qaitoun neighborhoods from the Old Town. It also

experience in both public and private space.

and collectivism and isolation, mirroring the

separates the neighborhood from the oldest school in al-Khalil, the

Shibli is able to maintain a perfect distance

overwhelming expectation of Palestinians to

al-Ibrahimeyeh School, and from al-Hajariya Girls School. Palestinians are

which allows her to record what surrounds her

begin a normal life, and the illusion of an end

allowed to pass only on foot. Palestinians between the ages of 16 and 34

while being completely immersed in it. In the

of the occupation.

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Untitled (Occupation no. 6), al-Khalil/Hebron, Palestine, (2016 - 2017)

are and prohibited from passing.

Untitled (Trauma no. 33), Corrèze, France, (2008–2009) Chromogenic print, 38 x 57.7 cm. Naves, 11th June, 2009. Guy Piron served on a submarine in Indochina and North Africa and is the president of the Corrèze chapter of the Union française des anciens combattants et victimes de guerre (UFAC),

Untitled (Trauma no. 25), Corrèze, France,(2008–2009) Chromogenic print, 38 x 57.7 cm. Tulle, 14th June, 2009. Thin Kieu showing a photo from 1946 depicting, according to the inscription on its back, the inauguration of a memorial honouring Ngi Muge Thai Hoc who died as a war hero for France which he considered his country.

Untitled (Trauma no. 26), Corrèze, France, (2008–2009) Chromogenic print, 38 x 57.7 cm. Tulle, 2nd June, 2009. Michel Trésallet presenting a photo of the lady next to him, Pierrette Barrat-Arnal, which shows her as a nurse at the Manufacture d’armes de Tulle (MAT), during the Occupation.

Shibli has taken her photography outside of Palestine to explore other regions, marginalised communities, and buried memories.

Her work often focuses on individuals who relate to her own personal experience – people who confront the oppressive authority of history and its contemporary repercussions. In Trauma (Corrèze, France, 2008-2009) Shibli questions the authority of history to legitimize a nation or homeland. The artist reveals connections between victim and perpetrator, freedom fighter and colonizer, and the oppressor and the oppressed. Photographs include portraits of French veterans who experienced Nazi persecution during World War II as a result of their resistance to German occupation, culminating in a commemoration on June 9th to honour the French martyrs. Other photographs are of maps of North Africa and draw our attention to the fact that some survivors of the German occupation went on to join the colonial French forces in Indochina and Algeria in the 1950s to 60s. Together, the images chronicle and interweave two distinct histories without resolution.

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Seeking a place unscarred by the trauma of war or catastrophe, Shibli shifted her lens to capture children in orphanages. In the series Dom Dziecka. The house starves when you are away’ (Poland, 2008) the artist visited children in orphanages in Poland, keen to explore how children are affected by the absence or the loss of home. However, she soon became aware of a kind of ‘childrens’ society’ which led one boy to say, ‘It’s not dom dziecka [childrens’ home—the name of the institution], it is dom [home].’ The images depict both a sense of community and isolation, in both black and white and colour photographs. The children are captured in their own spaces, and it is apparent that they share a sense of belonging. Their spaces are personalized and bright, decorated with posters and scattered in stuffed animals. However, paired with harsh exteriors and dilapidated walls, the scenes also suggest a sadness in the children’s effort to mask the harsh reality of their circumstances.

Ahlam Shibli, Untitled (Dom Dziecka. The house starves when you are away no. 5) Poland (2008) Chromogenic print, 38 x 57.7 cm. Dom Dziecka Na Zielonym Wzgórzu, Kisielany-Żmichy, May 19, 2008, early Monday morning. Stanisław Trochimiak waking up for school.

Untitled (Heimat no. 1), Nordhessen, Germany (2016–2017) Chromogenic print, 100 × 66.7 cm. Gedenkstätte und Museum Trutzhain, 13.11.2016. Housed in a former barracks, the Trutzhain Museum documents the history of the prisoner of war camp STALAG IX A Ziegenhain and the expellees who were resettled there in 1948. The partially depicted display board presents an aerial view of the site and photos of the construction of the barracks, as well as a light bulb and a piece of barbed wire from the camp.

Similarly, Heimat (Nordhessen, Germany, 2016-17) documents expellees and refugees (Heimatvertriebene and Flüchtlinge) of German descent forced to leave territories east of the Oder-Neisse line in 1945/46, as well as guest workers (Gastarbeiter) from the Mediterranean region who were recruited in the mid-1950s to facilitate the German “economic miracle.” Both were forced to seek a new home in the city of Kassel, home of Documenta, the world’s most ambitious exhibition of contemporary art. Shibli explores the many ways in which these different groups attempted to create a new home in a place that was not of their choosing. Capturing monuments, documents and personal effects, family photographs and letters, Shibli questions notions of history, memory, and belonging, and emphasises the challenge of rebuilding the concept of home. She investigates, through images, the process of social integration and identification of people who find themselves in an unfamiliar place or context.

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Untitled (Horse Race in Jericho no. 5) Jericho, Palestine, (1997) Gelatin silver print, 37.8 x 57.6 cm

Untitled (Horse Race in Jericho no. 4) Jericho, Palestine, (1997) Gelatin silver print, 37.8 x 57.6 cm

Reviewing each of Shibli’s series, we are reminded of the competing forces of absence and presence captured in the objects, people and settings she photographs. Shibli is interested in the unrecognized or uncounted, and her work thus engages in a never-ending narrative of temporality and memory.

Her images are reflective, apparent in her non-judgmental and natural gaze. Shibli’s images allow the viewer to notice and feel without intervention. Drawing parallels between past and present and fiction and reality, Shibli’s work compares the individual and collective conditions of different groups and communities, and explores the universality of the human experience of home and belonging.

Reflected across generations, ethnicities and disparate histories, the works of Shibli analyse and appreciate how these communities are facing life, from both an inside and outside perspective, and how their experiences have been internalized in their individual and collective identities.

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PORTFOLIO Images - Courtesy of the artist. Writer - Sabrina DeTurk, art historian, curator, writer and educator.

Samer Mohdad: Writing in Light Diversity, connection and contradiction in the modern Arab world In the summer of 1985, Samer Mohdad followed his

young boys learning to shoot a military rifle but also

cousin Kamal into the heart of the ‘Mountain War’

learning traditional Palestinian dances, reflecting

being fought between the Christian Phalangists and

the profound disjunctions brought on by war. His

the Druze Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in the Chouf

photographic style is both straightforward and

region of Lebanon. Kamal, Druze like Mohdad and

dramatic; children often face the camera directly,

a commander in the PSP, had agreed to allow his

but the viewer is also drawn to backgrounds filled

cousin to record the events of the summer’s campaign.

with shadow, in which secondary elements of the

Mohdad emerged from the experience with both a

photo can tell a deeper story.

film titled Le but (‘The goal’) and a drive to continue his education as a filmmaker. He was 19 years old.

In 1996, Mohdad’s second book, Retour a Gaza (Return to Gaza), reflected the experiences of 415

I wrote in light the stories of people from countries marked by centuries of clashes, and captured moments in time that make us face our realities as Arabs with deeper conviction.

Mohdad would return to Lebanon during the

men who were expelled from Gaza to South Lebanon

holidays while completing his bachelor’s degree

in 1992 because of their connections to Hamas or

in photography at the École supérieure des arts

to other Islamist organizations. Collaborating with

Saint-Luc de Liège in Belgium and continued

reporter Andreas Dietrich, Mohdad visited the men in

photographing the ongoing civil war in the country.

the Marj az-Zohour displacement camp in 1993 and

After his graduation in 1988, he was employed

then again in Gaza after their return in the summer

by Agence Vu, a French photojournalism agency,

of 1994. As with War Children, the photographs in

for which he continued to shoot features on the

Return to Gaza reflect Mohdad’s ability to capture

Lebanese conflict. From all of this work came his

both individual pathos and a larger sense of

first book, Les enfants de la guerre, Liban, 1985-

determination in the face of desperate circumstances.

1992 (War Children, Lebanon, 1985-1992) which was

In a photo of Fadlallah Abu Taylakh taken at Marj

published in France in 1993. Photos from the book

az-Zohour, Mohdad portrays the exiled Palestinian

joy on the face of this man as he plays with his child

were exhibited in Beirut and France and Mohdad

as he changes clothes behind a makeshift screen

lights up the photo. Mohdad notes that many of the

began to acquire a reputation for capturing both the

stretched in front of the forbidding rocky landscape

men he photographed for the project, including Abu

horror and the banality of persistent warfare, using

of South Lebanon. Only his face is visible, his eyes

Taylakh, later rose to positions of authority within

a style evocative of street photography as much as

fixed in the so-called “thousand-yard stare” familiar

Hamas and, thus, the work documents not only

of war photography.

to war photographers who have captured that vacant,

their particular experience but a broader sense of

resigned look on the faces of hundreds of soldiers

the growing importance of Hamas as a force to be

In War Children, Mohdad shows us the children

over the years. A second photo of Abu Taylakh, taken

reckoned with in Middle East politics. As Mohdad

of Southern Lebanon’s refugee camps in places

in Gaza after his return from the camp, shows him

writes in the introduction to the book, “Besides telling

like Ain el-Helweh, near Saida, where the Palestine

lying on the floor, laughing as he hoists his young

a story of exile and return, one that touches on the

Liberation Organization recruited child soldiers

daughter into the air. The surroundings are scarcely

destiny of the Palestinian people, Return to Gaza

known as Lion Cubs. Mohdad photographed these

less bleak than those of the previous photo, yet the

witnesses the beginnings of this rise to power.”

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​From the series War Children (2014) Gelatin silver print, 40 x 60 cm Preparing dinner at the Syrian Nationalist Party’s Lions cubs training camp in Mount Lebanon, 1989

This reflection on the power of his photography to document not just individual

afforded to women in the city. In a grainy photo from 2003, Mohdad captures a

stories but a collective shift in consciousness and political commitment is germane

scene from a shopping mall in Jeddah. In the foreground, two uniformed guards

to Mohdad’s next book, the first in a trilogy that would examine the variety of

are captured walking towards the camera. The image is cropped, showing only

contemporary Arab life while attending to the historical vestiges present in current

part of their bodies and focusing the viewer’s attention on their hands, which

society. Mes Arabies (My Arabias) was published in 1999 and documents the

are touching. Their arms form a “v” that frames the figures of two abaya-clad

photographer’s travels through 12 countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

women walking behind them. The gesture of touch, of easy physical intimacy,

From the Friday markets of Algeria, where a dejected vendor sits in front of his

enacted by the men is contrasted with the erasure of physicality embodied by

secondhand goods laid out on a dirty street, to the National Day celebrations

the veiled women behind them, reflecting the boundaries and differing modes

in Abu Dhabi, where two sheikhs recline on overstuffed sofas behind trays piled

of expression available to men and women in the society.

with delicacies, Mohdad continues his exploration of street photography as a means to capture the diversity of lived experience in contemporary Arab society.

It was not until 2005, following the assassination of former prime minister Rafic

The dichotomy of Arab existence, expressed for Mohdad as a simultaneous

Hariri, that Syrian forces fully withdrew from Lebanon, where they had maintained

experience of pride and defeat, is written in these images.

a strong presence in the mountain region since 1976. A reconciliation between the Druze and Christians in 1993, had paved the way for former residents to

The second book in the trilogy, Assaoudia XXVIe s = XVe h (Saudi Arabia 21st

return to this region, but the ongoing Syrian presence and lack of basic services

century CE = 15 century Hijri) was published in 2005 and documents Mohdad’s

continued to discourage occupancy. Working with the EU and government-

experiences in the kingdom, where he both traveled and lived in the early 2000s.

sponsored AKFAR program, Mohdad developed the Mes Ententes (My

The photographer first visited Saudi Arabia in 2000 to present his photographs

Understandings) project to assess the return of displaced families to Mount

from the My Arabias series in Riyadh for the celebrations of the city’s designation

Lebanon. His documentation of the project resulted in a short film and book of

at Capital City of Arab Culture. He then returned to Riyadh in 2001 to set up the

the same name, published in 2005.

th

Centre for the Image at King Abdulaziz Library, a project which lasted until 2003.

Mohdad’s photographs from Saudi capture the complexities and contradictions

With photographers Akram Zaatari and Fouad Elkoury, Mohdad established

of life in the kingdom. He documents the lives of Bedouin women in the Empty

the Arab Image Foundation, headquartered in Beirut, in 1997. His 2013 book,

Quarter whose remote way of life permits somewhat more freedoms than those

Beyrouth Mutations (Beirut Mutations) recounts the reasons for this project.

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In Mohdad’s words, “When I first exhibited my photography in the early 90s at the Musée de l’Elysée in

​From the series War Children (2014)

Switzerland and the Musée de la Photographie in Charleroi, Belgium, there was no category for my work.

Gelatin silver print, 40 x 60 cm

The label ‘Arab photography’ simply did not exist. Up until then, famous images of the Arab world had

Frontline between east and west Beirut seen from the

been taken by outsiders, Westerners who traveled to the Middle East in search of exoticism and thrills.

west, Zkak El Blat district downtown Beirut, Lebanon, 1989

Therefore, I have decided to create the Arab Image Foundation to build up the Arab photography history starting from scratch, so my works and works of other Arab artists find an anchor point.” The ongoing work of the Foundation in both archiving photographic works and exposing them to new audiences is of critical importance to the visual arts in the Arab world.

In 2018, Mohdad published his only non-photographic book to date, Voyage en Pays Druze (Journey in Druze Country). In it, he recounts his childhood growing up as a member of this secretive and little-understood sect as well as recounting his experiences of the civil war that overshadowed his youth. Although the book does not contain photographs, Mohdad’s vivid language paints a picture of the sights and sounds of his youth and young adulthood, forming a companion to the visual documentation of his photography.

Mohdad is currently working on the third volume of his Arabs trilogy, which will be titled Le dernier Arabe (The Last Arab) and will include his most recent photographs from the Arab world.

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​From the series War Children (2014) Gelatin silver print, 40 x 60 cm Children at the PLO Lions Cubs in the Ain el-Helweh refugee camp near Saida, south Lebanon, learn Dabkeh, a traditional Palestinian dance, 1989

Next Page: From the series Return to Gaza (2014) Gelatin silver print, 60 x 90 cm Part from the 415 expelled Palestinians arrive back at the camp after having marched to the border with Israel to protest against their deportation, Marj az-Zouhor, south Lebanon, 1993

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One of the 415 expelled Palestinians showing the drawn portrait of his daughter back home in Gaza at Marj az-Zohour camp, south of Lebanon, 1993 From the series Return to Gaza (2014) Gelatin silver print, 40 x 60 cm. Abu Ahmed Jadallah during exile at the Marj az-Zouhour camps in no man’s land, south Lebanon, 1993

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From the series Mes Arabies (2014) Gelatin silver print, 40 x 60 cm Naqsh-e Rostam is an ancient necropolis located at 5 km of Persepolis, in Fars Province, Iran, 1995

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Clockwise: From the series Mes Arabies (2014) Gelatin silver print, 40 x 60 cm Indonesian students of Islamic theology at the Azhar mosque in Cairo, Egypt, 1994 Interior of an underground house in the old city of Ghadames, Libya, 1994 Remains of the Sun Temple of the Sabean kingdom, Marib, Yemen, 1994 Zawia Sidi Rahal, a mausoleum dedicated to the renowned Sufi man protector of travelers, Morocco, 1994

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From the series Assaoudia (2014) Gelatin silver print, 80 x 120 cm.

Weekend picnic in the dunes in Mozahemia near Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2002.

Bedouin women after milking camels in the Empty Quarter, Sharoura, Saudi Arabia, 2003

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From the series Assaoudia (2014) Gelatin silver print, 40 x 60 cm Shopping mall in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 2003

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From the series Beirut Mutations (2014) Gelatin silver print, 60 x 90 cm Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium. It was destroyed during Israeli invasion in 1982. Beirut, Lebanon, 1985 Demonstration following Hariri’s assassination, Beirut, Lebanon, March 14, 2005.

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From the series Beirut Mutations (2014) Gelatin silver print, 60 x 90 cm Dumping the front sea of Normandy with public garbage to create an artificial island, Beirut, Lebanon 1992.

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PORTFOLIO Images - Courtesy of the artist Writer - Flounder Lee, artist, educator and curator.

Zied Ben Romdhane: West of Life and Other Projects Where happiness prevails amongst the broken and eroded Documentary and street photography overlap and

the scene less playful and more wary. Romdhane

world crop up when you look closer. Under the Sand

intertwine in ideas and subjects but somehow still

describes one encounter: “While I was shooting

tackles the desertification and encroaching sand

stay distinctly separate in most photographers’ work.

West of Life, a kid jumped in front of me wanting

on villages in southern Tunisia. Here, though, the

Tunisian photographer Zied Ben Romdhane manages

me to take him a photo. So, I said, ‘Yes, of course.’ He

moments so far in the work contain more muted

to combine them in fascinating ways. West of Life

disappeared for a while then he came back wearing a

humor than West of Life. Someone reaches for a water

and other projects deal with deadly serious topics

cardboard armor and a big smile in his face. I found

spigot that protrudes from the face of a sand dune,

such as mining and desertification—documentary at

this very funny and creative in the same time.”

the tiny pool of water underneath proof that the water

its finest—but still manage the bursts of candidness

still flows, evidence this is a recent sand incursion. The

and humor that are the bread and butter of street

These comic moments, however, are contrasted with

drama is amped up with scenes such as a dune that

photography. It is hard to imagine any work by

photographs of a much darker nature. Degraded and

dwarfs a village. Still Romdhane makes sure that the

Sebastião Salgado, whose projects cover some similar

eroded landscapes are seen throughout the series.

bursts of life prevail with another photo showing kids

topics as Romdhane’s, such as mining, to be funny.

People, as well as the places, seem a bit broken, a bit

riding their bikes on a tall dune.

Conversely, work by celebrated street photographers

worn. Life here doesn’t look easy, but it isn’t all sad;

such as Vivian Maier rarely has the depth to cross

the bursts of happiness keep the series from weighing

While black and white was not really a choice for

over into documentary. Of course, there are rare

so heavily that you can’t bear to look at it. Romdhane

much of photography’s history, now it definitely is.

exceptions who balance humour with documentary,

makes sure that the people are not seen as victims,

Romdhane makes use of monochrome throughout

such as Robert Frank. Romdhane’s work combines

that they are still living their life, just with the desire

his work to reduce visual ‘noise.’ Despite being

these two genres in a spectacular way that keeps

to have more control over their future.1

monochrome, the work shows a colourful world, filled

rewarding the viewer for spending more time with

with life and laughter. In a photographic tradition,

the images. There are moments that would happily

Balancing these two sides of reality was something

he’s using the lack of colour to help us break from

reside in other photographic traditions such as still

that took Romdhane awhile to accomplish, but it

reality to look back at it in a new light. This line of

life, portraiture, and abstraction. This genre mixing

is the keystone in the work. He says, “Despite the

reasoning goes well back; Ansel Adams thought that

makes sense given his wide-ranging influences such

harsh conditions in that region I was surprised about

“the two-dimensional, monotone nature of a black

as Haruki Murakami, Martin Parr, and Todd Hido.

the energy and the sense of humour that people

and white photographic image was in itself a radical

have there. The contradiction strengthened the story

departure from reality.”2

Romdhane’s most celebrated series is West of Life.

telling. To be able to catch those funny moments with

The project examines a nearly uninhabitable region,

strangers took me a long period of coming and going

Overall, Zied Ben Romdhane’s work is a vivid portrayal

Gafsa, an important phosphate mining area. This

to establish relationships based on trust.”

of life, full of humour, pain, laughter, hardship. He

project perfectly conveys the mix of humour and

engages topics that affect his country, Tunisia, on

depth that pervades much of his recent work. In

In two of Romdhane’s in-progress projects, The

the macro and micro scale such as environmental

one photograph, with a serious look on her face, an

Box and Under the Sand, this unique mix of humor

degradation and employment. He mixes multiple

older lady, Zayda, stands against a weatherworn wall

and serious topics continues. The Box deals with a

genres of photography to tell a more complete story.

and strikes her best body builder pose. In another,

prestigious company in a hip area of Tunis. On the

One where the subjects are not victims to be pitied,

a boy paddles a refrigerator through a reedy area,

surface, it seems ideal, with moments of laughter,

but people who simply want more control over their

the background, though, is a chemical plant, making

but disillusionment and detachment from the outside

own destiny and future.

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Mdhilla, the grandson of ‘saad’ the old knight playing with a cardboard armour (2015) Next Page: Chattessalam, a boy rowing in a fridge behind the chemical factory (2014)

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Mittlaoui ’Zeyda’ (2015)

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Clockwise: Mdhilla, a grandmother watching her grandson while trick riding (2015) Mine worker with broken back (2015) Mdhila, ’Saad’ the old knight (2015) Oummlaarayes, a boy’s backflip off wall in a soccer field (2015)

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Mittlaoui, a cloud on the top of a hill near the phosphate field (2015) Redayef, old undergound mine (2015) Mittlaoui, sunset landscape (2015)

Chatt el salem, chemical waste evacuated in the sea (2014) Mittlaoui, Estuary of chemical waste (2015)

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Thelja, the pyramid piling of processed phosphate (2015)

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Nadia, age unknown, takes a break in her kitchen. She makes jewelry.

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Clockwise: Amani (10) strokes her horse Khmisa in the courtyard of her house. She has a special relationship with her horses.

Manel goes out wearing her protective mask. Manel makes scarves, but she stopped going to the support center for the disabled because of her condition.

Gloves and a mask worn by people affected by XP, for protection against UV rays.

Farah (26) chooses what to wear before going out for a coffee at the end of the day.

Next Page: Amani (10) can only go out to play in the street after the sun has set.

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PORTFOLIO Images - Courtesy of the artist. Writer - Latifa Al Khalifa, curator and arts manager.

Ghada Khunji: A Lifetime of Poetic Portraiture Adding dimension to documentary photography “I wasn’t doing it to share immediate news, I was

time, I knew I wouldn’t have 18,000 choices, to look

doing it because I was capturing stories,’ Khunji

at later when I came home.”

explains, “…sometimes those of people whom not necessarily everyone is interested in.” For decades,

It is in her travels that Khunji produces her best

artist and photographer Ghada Khunji (b.1967), took

work. She portrays her subjects in a dignified

the medium of documentary photography and used it

light, amplifying their beauty, however never in

as a catalyst to create visual poetry. Her photographs

the traditional sense. Regardless of a person’s

recite the stories of her subjects, who are carefully

background, she will capture their pride and

placed in the centre of her photographs. Not one of

their power. It is a common denominator in her

them smiles, and the camera is positioned in a way

documentary portraiture for Khunji to tilt her camera

that gifts those she photographs with an arresting

at an angle which gives the people she captures

prominence, making them seem like they tower ten-

a supernatural grandeur. Each photograph shows

feet tall. One can find Khunji in her photographs.

you a different person representing a world often

Not in the traditional sense as a self-portrait, but in

hidden or forgotten, and a glimpse into Khunji’s

the subjects and individuals she illuminates with her

unique spirit. Every destination she travels to is an

lens. Khunji boasts countless accolades, from winning

ambitious endeavour. The first of many trips was

the Lucie Discovery of the Year (2006), American

to the Dominican Republic, which the artist credits

Photo Magazine’s Image of the Year Award (2007),

as as one of her strongest series of documentary

as well as the Golden Lights Award for Travel (2006),

photographs. In this series, one can appreciate the

she continuously arrests her audience with images

beginning of something significant, a repertoire that

of people you might never meet, and yet feel an

Khunji will slowly build while defining her craft and

uncanny familiarity with.

technique.

Although Khunji dabbled in fashion photography

Subsequently Khunji travelled to Cuba, Mexico, South

Her images are timeless.

With the click of her camera Khunji invites us into an alternate universe, where people are not defined by fashion, politics or the business of money

whilst studying in New York at Parsons School of

Africa, India and America’s Bible Belt, and for each

and a half months, living with the locals and finding

Design, her interest in the glamorous, celebrity-

she documented the ephemeral and phantasmal

new tales to tell. With limited film, she would only

packed parties quickly waned as she searched for

resonance of the place. “I think I’ve always felt

get a few chances for each shot and so she had to

something deeper. Khunji instead made a decision

this, that as artists we should keep reinventing

make it count, and quickly satiate her hunger for

when it came to her art, she would traverse the

ourselves,” Khunji says. Another characteristic of

the perfect shot.

globe for the truth she pined for. “I searched for

her documentary work is that her images are timeless.

moments where I became the person that was

With the click of her camera Khunji invites us into an

“When it came to the Indian girl with the braids…

my subject. Moments when I was seeing myself

alternate universe, where people are not defined by

she didn’t want me to photograph her and usually

mirrored in the people I capture and the beauty

fashion, politics or the business of money. For her

that’s okay. I say thank you and am on my way. But,

of it was because I was only using negatives at the

Hindustan series, Khunji travelled to India for two

I couldn’t. I just really needed that picture. I felt I

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From the series Cuba (2005 & 2007) Cuba, Medium format analog

needed it. And so two guys, you don’t see in the negative, two older men,

To boast Khunji’s adventurous spirit is even more impressive. And to also face the

convinced her to say yes. And so, she gave me one photo. And believe it or

unknown and continuously find beauty through anger and sadness, in religious

not when I first saw the negative there was nothing to be fixed…. The colors

settings or slums, in light and shadow, to portray people from all walks of life

were something else but that’s the thing I couldn’t resist. It was waiting. She was

as beautiful, strong and majestic, that is very special. “Well, I guess you have to

waiting for me till that day.”

just go where fate takes you right? You don’t risk it, you don’t get it.” And that encapsulates Ghada’s work, how she shows people, her steps were mapped

Being from Bahrain (which in many ways mimicks the attributes of a small town)

before she even travelled. Each person she has photographed was waiting for

it is rare for anyone to break the mould and pursue a career as a photographer.

her, so that they could speak to her their truth.

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From the series Cuba (2005 & 2007) Cuba Medium format analog

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From the project Hallelujah Momma (1998) Virginia/USA Medium format analog

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From the series Hindustan (2008) India Medium format analog

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From the project La Republica Dominicana (1994) The Dominican Republic Medium format analog

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From the series The Rose Garden (2013) Bahrain Medium format analog

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From the series Zanzibar (2010) Tanzania Medium format analog

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From the series Within the Shadows (2012) Bahrain, Leica digital

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PROFILE Images - Courtesy of the artist. Writer - Ari Akkermans, writer and art critic.

Alfred Tarazi: Dear Madness Collages from a vault of memories How do we rearrange photographic knowledge

the grand narrative of the war, towards an order of

streams of history are revealed, a reality that

in an event of historical cessation? We are not

introspection, closer in time and personal in voice.

supersedes all fictions and annihilates itself. Using

talking here about a mere interruption in the flow

Reconstructing the historical events that took place in

her European passport, Madness flees the country,

of the everyday, but a condition of dissolution. In

Lebanon 2005-2006 between the Cedar Revolution

and in the subsequent demolition of her house,

his practice, Lebanese artist Alfred Tarazi has always

and the end of the July War from a first person,

another layer of story-telling is revealed.

been captivated (hostage, you may say) by the

the artist is not only putting together fragmentary

metaphysical transgressions of the Lebanese Civil

recollections from the war, but rearranging his

Throughout the 24 scenes of this almost cinematic,

War—it’s not just about violence, but the liquefaction

own vault of memories. Dear Madness is a fiction

historical painting, Tarazi invokes the unwritten

of reality—and turns to representation with an almost

inside the archive, and the metaphor for a reckless,

architectural history of the city, not as a tool to

cynical question: Is there a memory more reliable

turbulent and unattainable love, Beirut herself: “This

enhance his narrative but rather as a general

than a photograph? It is in fact here that we have

is your story, Madness, this is your city and this is

structure. It is through enclosure around physical sites

the makings of madness. A convoluted, impossible,

your house.”

and their history that the story becomes tangible:

unbearable history reduced to a body of photography; overwhelming, partisan and interminable.

“The 8th of March [was] born on Riad El Soloh In the panorama Cara Matta (2019), on show in

square, and the 14th of March on Martyrs Square.

Art Dubai last spring, a kind of classical historical

But those two squares have things in common. First

But instead of reversing the process or intervening

painting in scenes leads the viewer through a series

they both contain statues, and second both statues

the archive, Tarazi’s method is that of a conservator;

of encounters between madness and himself, that

were made by the same Italian sculptor, Renato

how to restore the chronology? In his restoration

intersect and overlap with key events in this period.

Mazzacurati.” Photography, architecture, urbanism

work, photographs and archives reappear as

The assassination of Rafic Hariri (among others),

and war, all in equal measures part of the legacy of

para-text through juxtaposition, and emerge as

the establishment of the opposing camps that still

Modernity in the Arab world.

footnotes to themselves—image, text and fiction

divide the Lebanese political spectrum, March 8

in boundless composition. Out of this chaos, the

and March 14, or the deadly war with Israel that for

A modernity without restraints or limits, a

absurd and the ambiguous merge into the role-

the umpteenth time, saw parts of Beirut destroyed.

simultaneous laboratory and museological

playing of historiography, leaving us at the mercy

Is Madness the metaphor for Beirut, or vice versa?

showcase. For Tarazi, an artist always skeptical of

of singular, unexplained photographic acts. His

images and politics, and often laconic in language,

signature collaged panoramas–an early ancestor of

In this epic of love, and well, madness, the fictional

the photograph is no longer a medium but an early

cinema—are a phantasmagoria of truncated images,

details are as important as the true events on account

ruin. It is capable of immortalizing the unimportant,

unevenly distributed, wounded archive and dystopian

of their hagiographic nature. The assassination of

thus clogging the pores of history’s path, at the end

mythology; references tear themselves off the flesh,

Hariri on St. George Bay in 2005 merges with the

of which there’s only non-reason without apocalypse:

melting into the whole.

legend of how St. George, the patron saint of Beirut,

“This is her story, Madness, this is her city and this is

slayed the dragon in the medieval tale. Unlike the

her house. This is the ruin in which we made vows,

And then, there’s “Dear Madness...”, where the

Greek epic that birthed St. George, in Cara Matta

this is the square in which we sang for freedom and

observer is both subject and object of inquiry. In

there’s no obvious resolution or hero; it is only

this is the war we fought together. It has all vanished.

more recent years, Tarazi has distanced himself from

because of its historical accuracy that mysterious

It is all gone.”

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Cara Matta consists of two scrolls framed within a box, one vertical, the other horizontal, activated through a hand-powered crank

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PROFILE Images - Courtesy of the artist. Writer - Sumeja Tulic, writer and photographer.

Btihal Remli: Inside Intimate observations, made from afar Some readings of photographs necessitate little or

Take her series Inside in which she documents

no additional context. They presume that the act

how salaat (prayer) transformation every day and

of looking is guided by an informed interest in the

secular places that facilitate trade, transport,

photographed topic, subject, event. This benevolent

and family life into religious spaces. Although

presumption, like most presumptions, falls on its

the title of the series justifies the expectation of

own sword: the uncertainty of the premise. What

a photographer embedded within her subjects,

if the idea used as the basis for the expectation is

photographing from the prayer carpet beneath

not true or sufficient?

those who bow and prostrate to God in the direction of the Kaaba at Mecca. But this is

In her work, Btihal Remli, the German-born

not the case. Inside, actually, is a look from the

photographer of Moroccan origin, circumvents

outside in on a ritual that, although performative,

the dangers of uncertainty with the elegance and

is not a performance. To consciously perform

respect of an observant, critical and pragmatic mind.

prayer in front of a camera is antithetical to its

Remli is unwilling to waste time on considerations

raison d’etre: transcendence into the realm of

that take away from the intimacy or urgency of

the otherworldly and holly.

the situation developing before the lens of her camera. Instead of treading the learned path of

So, if one is to document it without explicit

documentary photography, often a choreography of

permission, one ought to be like Remli: stand

objectivity and didactics for the gaze of the outsider,

behind the curtain, point the camera from the

without fear of being “vague” or “unclear” Remli

opening between walls or in passing, and without

is on a different path, where process prioritizes the

flash. The frame that comes out may not be clear. It

intricacies of her stories­­— be they about dark magic,

may have motion in it as the body may be caught

identity, religion or gender.

by a double-exposure-like effect. What is seen won’t be explicated, but it also won’t be mystified.

Remli’s storytelling can be easily perceived as a negation of the documentary process. Perhaps it

What one sees in Remli’s Inside transcends the

is, but, in dwelling on that one may ignore its more

particulars of the topic. It is a material artifact

substantial and defining quality: its commitment

of immateriality. Unlike reckless and nonchalant

to truth. Remli intends the viewer of her work to

voyeurism, Remli’s work creates a solid ground

know that despite her proximity to the subject, she

between two antonymous realms: the secular

will remain the outsider that she, as a storyteller,

and sacral. The in-between is not a stand-in

inherently is. Remli’s position outside the parameters

for contradiction, but a stance for reflection

of the narrative not only creates the rhythm of the

and inquiry. It is not a way out of a conundrum

photographic sequence but also sets its genre.

but a way in.

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Remli’s storytelling can be easily perceived as a negation of the documentary process.

Perhaps it is, but, in dwelling on that one may ignore its more substantial and defining quality: its commitment to truth

The Opening #2 from the series Inside (2014) Morocco, C-Print, 60 x 60 cm

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Mohammeds Carpet-14 from the series Inside (2014) Morocco, C-Print, 60 x 60 cm

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Clockwise: Throne Verse #2, Welcome, Throne Verse #1 and Time & Space from the series Inside (2014) Morocco, C-Print, 100 x 100 cm

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Clockwise: The Veil #2, the Veil #6, the Veil #5 and the Opening from the series Inside (2014) Morocco, C-Print, 100 x 100 cm

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Clockwise: the Prayer #2, the Prayer #4, the Prayer #1 and the Veil #2 from the series Inside (2014) Morocco, C-Print, 100 x 100 cm

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PROFILE Images - Courtesy of the artist. Writer - Chama Tahiri, art director and journalist.

Deborah Benzaquen: Sweet Surrender A coming of age visual story from Casablanca When Casablanca born and raised photographer

clean and minimalistic. Except for a few yellow

Deborah Benzaquen was commissioned in 2017 for

flowers, the artist surrendered her usual favorite

an exhibition on Eternal Youth, she chose to focus

props, gathered over the years when she was a

on adolescence as a timeless research subject.

movie set decorator, and only played with the natural

She had known Mia, one of her models, since she

highlights and shadows of a charming old-fashioned

was a little kid. At only 17, the pixie haircut girl

Casablanca apartment.

had always been a brilliant and creative child but also very bold and opinionated, maybe a bit of

The result is equally raw as it is soft, and conveys a

a rebel in her own way. She introduced the artist

feeling of blissful nostalgia. The unedited pictures

to her high school friends with whom she formed

reveal the marks of adolescence, but the teenagers

a very tight and free-spirited group. They talked

gracefully turned their vulnerability into a statement

about identity, gender, and sexuality, and what all

of power. Their striking confidence and carefree

that could mean in a such a transitional phase of

spirit clashes with their young age, and this constant

a young adult’s life. The chemistry was so obvious

duality resonates with the underlying question of

that they quickly moved from a Whatsapp group

gender, as well as the tension between the threat

chat to a shooting set.

of the outside world, and the safety of the room in which these teenagers can be whoever they want,

In her creative process, Benzaquen never plans

sheltered from peer pressure and social expectations.

too far ahead—she goes with her guts and heart,

The unedited pictures reveal the marks of adolescence, but the teenagers gracefully turned their vulnerability into a statement of power

and follows her intuition, thus creating the most

The intimacy of the photos is enhanced by the

candid and authentic collaborations. The artist

subtle suggestion of modesty, and the context of

indeed refers to her work as “theirs” since all of

the images given the controversy around sexual

But the true strength of the series might be its

her shoots are a form of dialogue with her (mostly)

orientation in Morocco. Benzaquen is very aware

universality. Stripped down from any context those

real-life, non-professional models. They usually

of this, and is careful to never put her models in

are just regular teenagers, with their dreams, flaws,

take the time to get to know each other, and their

compromising situations. Speaking of her models

secrets and dyed hair. Teenagers who refuse to be

aesthetic universes eventually blend to perfection.

for Sweet Surrender, the artist says ‘They were such

labeled. Masculine and feminine, young and mature,

But it is most likely Benzaquen’s way of creating a

quiet forces, which was really reassuring since I’m

assertive and fragile: they are all of that and more.

form of intimacy even before setting her frame,

the opposite.’ Being very shy and self-conscious

They are works in progress, shaping their identity

doubled with her great listening skills, that create

herself—a form of humbleness in disguise—

as they grow–free and fabulous. For Benzaquen, a

that unique bond of trust, and allow her to tell the

Benzaquen never forces a pose and hardly ever

picture is worth a thousand words, and this series

most sensitive visual stories.

directs her subjects. On the contrary, she thrives

tells one of the oldest coming of age stories ever

on challenges and limitations, which in this series

told—a story of letting go and choosing love,

Here, the more Benzaquen got to know Mia’s group,

has resulted in something pure and more subtly

beyond prejudices. A ‘sweet surrender’ to beauty

the more she knew she wanted her pictures to be

suggestive.

and sensuality, in all of their raw forms.

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Adam, Mia, Marina et GrĂŠcia from the series Sweet Surrender (2017)

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Kenza, Ellis, Mia and Marina Mia and Ellis from the series Sweet Surrender (2017)

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Ellis and Mia from the series Sweet Surrender (2017)

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PROFILE Images - Courtesy of artist. Writer - Emma Warburton, arts writer and researcher.

Hind Mezaina: Photo Diaries Archiving personal and collective memory Hind Mezaina, an artist based in Dubai, while she

The month includes images from both Dubai and

an upward momentum to its structure or design. A

is fundamentally a photographer, she also engages

Bologna, Italy tracing the artist’s travels. The result is

number of images in the August diary depict Dubai’s

with video and collage, while being an enthusiastic

a particularly beautiful series. The images are warm,

modern architecture, particularly buildings that are

proponent of the local and international art scene.

as if tinted in yellow. The degree of contrast is slightly

impressive in their vertical scale. The buildings Mezaina

Her interest in art and culture led her to create a

exaggerated, and the highlighted areas are subtly

chooses for this series have angular detaIling that is

blog four years ago that she named The Culturist.

over-exposed. The aesthetic could be described as

both ornate and understated at the same time. The

She actively maintains The Culturist to this day, and

sunbathed, dry and arid, and it accompanies the

scenes Mezaina captures appear engulfed in a pale

it can be considered an extension of her art practise.

summer scenes very effectively. The grainy quality

yellow haze. It invokes memories of what it feels like

adds a layer of nostalgia to the images, suggesting

to be in a city on a dangerously hot day. There’s an

There is a strong sense of conceptual and aesthetic

a time past. With this particular collection, Mezaina

eerie and ghost-like element to these pictures, in part

continuity in Mezaina’s photography work. She works

demonstrates a gift for framing and composition, as

due to their foggy quality and heightened by the fact

exclusively in analog film, and thus her photographs

well as a unique ability to beautify the banal.

that the images are totally devoid of people. This film

share a distinctly vintage and romanticized quality.

and camera combination lends itself well to conveying

From a general perspective her projects explore

For the July chapter, Mezaina again used the Contax

the concept of the desert, as it aesthetically imitates

themes of collective and personal memory, nostalgia,

T2 camera, but this time with Kodak Ektar 100 film.

the atmospheric traits of the landscape—dry, dusty,

the representation of Dubai and the UAE in the media,

The July diary includes photos from Bologna (July

hazy and hot.

and the relationship between landscape and personal

1), Karlovy Vary (July 2-7), Antwerp (July 8-13) and

identity. Mezaina observes, researches, collects and

Dubai (July 14-31) The images are vivid in colour and

Mezaina is an intuitive and versatile photographer,

preserves visual artefacts and memories, not disimilar

highly saturated. In contrast to the previous month’s

and her work says a lot about her. The word ‘diary’

to that of an archivist or archaeologist of sorts.

series, these photos are acutely focused and sharp,

suggests a personal, if not intimate reflection, and

due to the high level of contrast and the ultra fine

this project certainly lives up to those expectations by

Mezaina’s project Photo Diaries (2019) evolved from

grain of the film. Mezaina selects her subject matter

illuminating the artist’s aesthetic tastes, cultural interests,

an initial effort to make use of her neglected cameras

well for this series, choosing to capture architecture

and uninhibited artistic eye. Indeed, Photo Diaries is

and undeveloped film. Selecting a different camera

and indigenous plants that lend themselves to the

a visual autobiography—a record in pictures of an

and film for each monthly series, the artist has shot a

stark, hard-edged rendering that is achieved with

artist’s daily life. But there is also something universal

photo a day for every month of this year, until present.

this particular film. The entire series is cold in color,

about Mezaina’s photographs. They evoke a relatable

Photo Diaries is an autobiographical archive that is

as if tinted in pale blue or seafoam green. Combined

wistfulness and sentimentality in the viewer, and draw

both observational and personal. The images narrate

with a white-washed effect (a consequence of

personal memories to the surface. In a sense, Mezaina

the artist’s movements and daily experiences, while

over exposure), this produces an eerie quality that

does not only capture her own memories in pictures,

also functioning to capture and record details of the

complements the still, austere scenes.

but the memories of us all. And this, ultimately, makes

landscape that surrounds her.

for a very satisfying viewing experience.

The month of August is the only month that Mezaina

For the month of June, Mezaina paired the Contax

shot entirely in portrait format. The artist effectively

Photo Diaries is an ongoing project. The entire series

T2 camera with Kodak ColorPlus 200 35mm film.

chooses subject matter that is elongated, or has

can be viewed on www.theculturist.com

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August 2019 from the series Photo Diaries

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August 2019 from the series Photo Diaries

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July 2019 from the series Photo Diaries

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June 2019 from the series Photo Diaries

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PROFILE Images - Courtesy of the artist. Writer - Emma Warburton, arts writer and researcher.

Myriam Boulos: Sunday Companionship, celebration and sisterhood Based in Beirut, Lebanese photographer Myriam

Under the Kafala system, a domestic worker cannot

Boulos uses her camera to understand her city,

leave their job, resign or leave the country without

its people and her place among them. Her work

their sponsor’s permission. Questioning the terms

in photography typically engages with recurrent

of their contract means risking deportation. As a

themes and subject matter. Through her images,

result, the Kafala system perpetuates situations

Boulos reveals her continuous interest in the

of abuse and exploitation. Boulos’s series Sunday

representation of women and minorities, and the

seeks to liberate these women from the labeling and

experience of subcultures existing on the social

oppression imposed on them by the Kafala system,

fringes of Beirut. The artist also tends to work in

by capturing them in the few hours of freedom they

a photographic approach that is distinctive and

enjoy each week - those brief yet precious moments

aesthetically bold.

in which they can be themselves.

These motifs are exemplified in the series Sunday,

Domestic workers are typically expected to be seen

which follows domestic workers from Ethiopia,

and not heard. They are the figures that tiptoe in the

Madagascar, Sri-Lanka and the Philippines on

background as they tend to the lives of the ‘more

their only day off, Sunday. For a few hours on a

elite.’ But in the making of Sunday, Boulos draws

Sunday, the presence of these domestic workers in

our attention to these women and acknowledges

Beirut is visible, and in certain neighbourhoods the

them as the focus of her artistic vision.

atmosphere is briefly but noticeably changed. “I

I always saw them as representatives of both social and political struggles. I wanted to photograph them outside their work, as women, and not as ‘cleaning women’

always saw them as representatives of both social

The images composing Sunday are bold and

and political struggles. I wanted to photograph them

colourful. Boulos works in a distinct photographic

outside their work, as women, and not as ‘cleaning

style combining high contrast, sharp focus and

women’ as they are so often referred to by my fellow

dynamic compositions. The aesthetic emphasizes

citizens in Lebanon.”

the joyous nature of these weekly meetings

documents one day in the lives of foreign domestic

between workers. Scenes of women dancing,

workers employed under Beirut’s Kafala system, and

For the creation of Sunday, Boulos takes an interest

worshipping and gathering outside are rendered

therefore by default the series comments on the

in these women as they enjoy their free time, and

in vibrant colours, giving the images a playful and

injustice, discrimination and exploitation that remain

documents the places they go to escape the

positive quality, and highlighting the values of

prevalent in the city’s social and political structures

everyday reality of the Kafala system.

companionship, celebration and sisterhood that

today. But more accurately Sunday is a series about

are at the core of each worker’s Sunday experience.

community and triumph over oppression. Gathering

‘Kafala’ means sponsor in Arabic. It is a system used

in laughter and celebration, the women of Sunday

in the Gulf region and the Middle East to manage

Boulos often uses her camera as a tool for engaging

are captured by Boulos in moments of bliss and

migrant workers. Every migrant domestic worker is

in social and political dialogue, a common thread

belonging as they rise above their circumstances

required to have a sponsor to legally live in Lebanon.

found throughout her photography practise. Sunday

and forget, for a day, that they are anything but free.

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Sunday Lebanon, AinAar from the series Kafala system (2015)

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Sunday Lebanon, Harissa from the series Kafala system (2015)

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Sunday Lebanon, Beirut, Sioufi from the series Kafala system (2015)

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Sunday Lebanon, Beirut, Monot from the series Kafala system (2015)

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Clockwise: Sunday Lebanon, Beirut, Karm ElZeitoun Sunday Lebanon, Beirut Sunday Lebanon, Beirut, Antelias Sunday Lebanon, Beirut, Hamra From the series Kafala system (2015)

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PROFILE Images - Courtesy of the artist. Interviewer - Emma Warburton, arts writer and researcher.

Randa Mirza: Beirutopia Post-war Beirut is a city for sale Following the end of the Lebanese civil war in 1990,

photos depicting construction sites. To be ‘under

and its surroundings to create the most convincing of

Beirut endeavoured to reclaim itself and restore its

construction’ implies a state of incompletion. A site

illusions. These billboards metaphorically mirror the

reputation as a glamorous, sophisticated and modern

under construction is one that has abandoned its

city of Beirut itself. Like Beirut, they offer a vision for

destination. The city pined after the now elusive

previous identity, but has not yet arrived at its future

the future that will never be truly realised and they

memories of itself as a romantic cultural hub, but still

one. It is, perhaps, in a state of non-existence. For

manipulate the community with promises they can

it embarked on the task to reconstitute its identity

Mirza, Beirut is in a continuous cycle of reinventing its

never fully keep. Essentially, these advertisements

under the fading pretence that it was once praised

identity without ever actualizing it. Therefore the city is

are optical illusions, meant to deceive. But with

‘the Paris of the Middle East.’ Fast-forward to the

in a perpetually dissatisfied—it is under construction,

astute framing and compositional techniques, Mirza

present day, and this sentiment has materialized in a

and therefore unfulfilled. There is a tone to Mirza’s

succeeds in poking holes in the pastiche, and revealing

city-wide campaign for constant urban development

words that suggest these developments are excessive

the dishonesty at the crux of Beirut’s redevelopment

and renewal. Construction sites and billboards populate

—so excessive and so rapid that even locals cannot

narrative.

the landscape, and testify to a capitalist attitude that

keep track of their city’s changing form. This idea of

has rendered Beirut a product, rather than a site with

dissatisfaction links well with materialism and capitalism,

Mirza describes Beirutopia as a series of ‘two-

unique historical and cultural value that should be

both of which operate under the generalized concept

dimensional dioramas.’ That is to say that each photo

preserved and protected.

that more is never enough. There is a sense, too, that

is constituted of a three dimensional front plane (often a

the city-wide construction is not actually serving the

physical object or person that is present in the space as

Randa Mirza’s photographic series Beirutopia (2011 -

people of Beirut. Instead, it serves Capitalism. As Mirza

Mirza photographs it), a two dimensional second plane

ongoing) captures details of Beirut’s urban landscape

describes, when one structure is erected, another is

(the hyper-realistic billboards that create an illusion

to illustrate a progressive ideological shift she has

dismantled, and in this manic process of reinventing

of reality, a virtual reality) and a third, hidden plane

observed in the city, whereby the social and cultural

the city, the needs and expectations of the very people

that is behind the billboard (actual reality, concealed).

values that defined Beirut prior to the Lebanese war

who depend on it are ignored for the allure of profit

These planes also function to metaphorically trace

have been replaced with the values of capitalism

and prestige. The ‘new’ Beirut, as Mirza suggests, is a

time, whereby the front plane is the actual present,

and materialism. The idea for the series came to

foreign place. Perhaps this is because the new Beirut

the second plane is the pretend present (or projected

the artist during a peak in the construction boom.

does not take form with people in mind. Instead it

future), and the third is the disheartened past.

Mirza’s observations of Beirut at that time, and her

serves the purpose of generating profit, and leaves

uncomfortable and alienated response to her native

little room for sentimentality, nostalgia or even modest

Beirutopia portrays the city as a product. It is simply

city, are what compelled her to begin photographing

practicality.

a platform for advertising space—space that can be

the landscape. She states:

bought, leased, or consumed in some form or another.

Beirutopia depicts construction sites that Mirza has

The series emphasizes the notion that preserving profit

“Today the city is still a huge construction site. I watched

encountered throughout the city. These sites are

is more important than preserving culture, society and

it changing rapidly… it became unrecognizable to the

photographed just as they are; they are carefully

history. All over the world, the destruction of cultural

people living in it. There were new buildings appearing

framed, but not staged. Promoting these projects are

heritage is being justified by the concept of renewal

but also there were old buildings disappearing. The

large billboards that advertise a forward-thinking vision

and modernity. And what can we do, except mourn

new promise for Beirut did not appeal to me. It was

for the space. They are hyper-realistic, computerized

our losses in disbelief, and tell ourselves that there is

profit oriented.” In essence, Beirutopia is a series of

renderings that simulate the future building, its interior,

a time for everything to disappear..

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A charming residential building from the series Beirutopia (2011 - ongoing) 80 x 110 cm

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The selective residence from the series Beirutopia (2011 - ongoing) 80 x 110 cm A new standard of luxury and services from the series Beirutopia (2011 - on oing) 80 x 110 cm

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Real properties from the series Beirutopia (2011 - ongoing) 80 x 110 cm

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Beirut is back and it’s beautiful from the series Beirutopia (2011 - ongoing) 80 x 110 cm

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Clockwise: Beirut revit son age, something to look up to, a dream you call home and Reviving the soul of beirut from the series Beirutopia (2011 - ongoing) 80 x 110 cm

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NEW MEDIA Images - Courtesy of artist. Writer - Emma Warburton, arts writer and researcher.

Meriem Bennani: Engineering Environments Discussions on immersive video installations Emma Rae Warburton: How do you describe

for different production companies, I started

yourself as an artist?

experimenting with videos I would casually take

Meriem Bennani: I make video installations, but I

on my phone, or videos from the internet on current

don’t usually define myself. In the past couple of

events or famous music videos. As I played these

years, I’ve focused on a practice that starts with a

videos, I would manipulate them. I then realised that

documentary—like interest in a subject or person.

they had power. Video is very powerful, and when

And then I film the subject or people in question.

you modify a famous video, the viewer questions

Which then turns into a video of around 30 minutes.

what it is, which isn’t real anymore. I then realised the

That’s been kind of a consistent pattern. But the

potential of storytelling with video, and decided to

video is not documentary; the second I start editing

explore that. Before that I mostly worked in drawing

it, it becomes something else. And then it’s usually

and animation.

presented in a multi-channel and multi-screen installation.

EW: Humour and comedy are integral to your practice. Can you talk about the importance of

Video is very powerful, and when you modify a famous video, or when you modify a video and the viewer questions what is and isn’t real anymore, it has a lot of potential

EW: If the starting point is a subject or a person,

humour in your videos?

what are you trying to arrive at? It there a common

MB: The humour is mostly intentional, but sometimes

goal for your videos?

it’s not. It’s just how I naturally approach subjects.

MB: I’ve been living in New York for ten years. I do

MB: I’m really not goal oriented. I start intuitively,

I think we all have a default mode of expression. If

travel a lot and spend a lot of time in Morocco. It’s

being attracted to someone or something that I

a subject interests me, I naturally approach it with

a luxury, but if you can have access to two centres

come in contact with. Then I spontaneously film

humour It’s also a way of warming up to more serious

instead of one, I think that’s very helpful. Wherever

that person or thing. Through editing, I then come

subjects in my work. The way the audience interacts

you stay for a long time ends up feeling like a centre

closer to understanding what it is about the person

with humour mirrors my own interests in humour.

which I think is very dangerous. When I spend too

or thing that interests me. Usually, my work arrives

This makes the work more accessible to people, as

much time in New York, it is harder to get out of the

at questions rather than conclusions and is about

well as for me. I am very serious about the subjects

bubble of being there, which is why I love going

universal concepts.

that I approach. Although there is humour, I’m not

back and forth.

interested in being sarcastic or ironic. I try to have EW: What is the role of photography in your work?

a very full-hearted approach to things. I don’t use

I think my work is very much about of someone that

MB: I take photos every day. I take a lot of photos.

humour to create distance. I use it to be playful. My

belongs to a diaspora - someone who misses where

But only with my phone. So, I don’t really think about

work is pretty optimistic and positive, which also is

they’re from. But I also grew up in Morocco. I wasn’t

the medium.

not planned.

born away. So my work moves between this feeling

EW: Where did your interest in video as a medium

EW: Where do you predominantly live right now?

made from the inside, from within Morocco. I am

begin?

Does your location affect your creativity including

very interested in the idea of having two gazes at

MB: When learning how to do special effects

your resulting work?

once as well as the space in between them.

of being away from where I’m from, but also as being

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Installation view: Party on the CAPS at the Biennale of Moving Image (2018) Image courtesy of the artist and BIM 2018. Photo by Mathilda Olmi.

EW: What is the role of the internet and technology

EW: This brings me to my next question, how

EW: Would you describe your work as political?

in your work, conceptually and practically?

do you feel about technology and its current

MB: Everything is political. It’s impossible for

MB: Those elements are often talked about, but I

relationship to art and creativity in general?

anyone to not be political. My presence in the

don’t think they’re important at all actually. I think

MB: It’s really hard to respond in general, because

world is inherently political. I don’t make work

they’re a part of my life the way they’re a part of my

there are so many types of technologies, and

always with the intent of being political, or

mother’s life. Maybe I’m from a younger generation,

there are so many artists that use technologies

analytical in a political way, or having it be political

so it makes more of an appearance in my work than

for different reasons. I’m interested in technology

commentary. But I do make work knowing that

it does for someone from an earlier generation.

just being there to serve an idea. So the idea

by default, whatever I’m talking about will have

And it makes less of an appearance in my work

of technology as a tool. But for one to simply

political content within it, and wherever I show it

than for someone ten years younger than me. But

place their work in the context of new media and

will determine how that political content resonates.

I’m not interested in situating them as central

technology, I find that very boring. For example.

So it’s not that I decide to make political work, it’s

subjects. They’re just mediums. The internet and

when VR is used in a way that doesn’t justify its

more that once I’m interested in something, I have

technology are there, and they give me access to

presence, it just sort of takes over because people

to sit down and determine the political charge of

different information and images from all over the

are still very impressed by VR, leaving no room

it, and really think about it.

world. But I’m not comfortable describing my work

for the work. And I think that sometimes when

as something that is of the internet, or post internet.

artists use computers or technological devices

EW: What are some of the core concepts that

I find those terms to be very limiting because they

in their work, they’re put into a category. But it’s

you engage with in your videos? Are there any

just describe the reality we are living in today.

only a medium.

repeated motifs?

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Clockwise: Stills From Video, Still from Meriem Bennani, Ghariba (2017) Installation view, Ghariba, Art Dubai (2017) Photo by Photo Solutions.

MB: I film a lot of women in my family. I’m also

MB: Yes, I would say so.

me. And I had made a whole project around her.

very much attracted to music and dance. But those

EW: Right now, what’s the most essential part of your

So I had to work with two other women, and I had

themes, without the specifics, are very general.

process?

no idea what to expect. I had four days with them.

MB: There are multiple important turning points.

And the footage I have is nothing that I could have

EW: Do you know why you revisit the women in your

The first one is the research phase, when I come up

planned. When it comes to the installation, I have

family as subjects in your work?

with a new idea. Then, during shooting, so many

more control since it starts with 3D shapes that I

MB: Well, I sometimes ask people to role play. And

things start happening. A very crucial moment is the

draw on my computer, that a fabricator then tries to

I happen to have a mother, aunt and some of my

editing, because I don’t make the story when I shoot.

replicate. If I wasn’t working with video and installation

mother’s cousins that are really great at improv.

So the story comes together when I edit. And then

the way that I am now, I think I would write fiction

They are identities themselves but with a bit role

the planning of the installation elements becomes

films. I’m interested in the process of projecting an

to play, and they do it really beautifully. I work with

very important .

idea onto a subject, and then having it surprise me.

female characters that already as a child felt like

The way a person might talk about something, I

characters - their personalities and their presence

EW: From the initial research phase, to the final stage

couldn’t even write that. I couldn’t even make it up,

was always so fabulous and political that they were

when an idea is materialized in an installation, is there

because it comes from a totally different person with

already characters.

a sense of great departure?

a different life. And through that exchange I am taken

MB: Absolutely. Completely. I once found a musician,

out of the things I know. And it’s always different. If it

EW: Is your own mother a real force and strong

or performer I wanted to work with. Initially I was

wasn’t different I think it would be boring, or it would

personality?

interested in a musical genre. She kind of flaked on

mean that I wasn’t open to people.

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Installation view, Siham & Hafida at The Kitchen (2017) Photo by Jason Mandella

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SERIES Artist - From Palestine, lives and works in Gaza.

Images - Courtesy of the artist.

Writer - Adapted from texts by Elisa Routa and Emma Warburton

Rehaf Batniji: Gaza, bright and beautiful The streets have the power to represent the culture of a country, both the bright and dark sides, and photography has the power to do the same. Merging the two together to form a conceptual framework, Rehaf Batniji has developed a unique and personal language in the genre of street photography. Using parks, plazas, sidewalks, beaches and public spaces as her medium, the artist illustrates in pictures her most intimate vision of Gaza.

A native Palestinian, Batniji has witnessed three major conflicts. In 2008, during the first, she documented her life with a cellphone. While a second massive conflict peaked in 2012, she captured scenes through the window of her studio with a digital camera.

Finally, in 2014, she documented the war during occasional cease-fires.

With refreshing positivity, Batniji’s photographs reject this brutal imagery, and instead use color as a tool for resistance to excavate the vibrant aspects of life in Gaza.

Her photos observe the landscape, and the beauty found in its relationship to the people populating it. Using a traditional approach to documentary photography, it is implied that Batniji’s work is imbued with social purpose. Rehaf Batniji is a self-taught photographer based in Gaza.

Al Batniji is a self-taught photographer based in Gaza City, Palestine. She currently

and identities of the people who dwell in her city. Batniji dreams of establishing

works for the Nawa for Culture and Arts Association as a public relations officer,

a photography school for talented and passionate aspiring photographers - an

where she is responsible for the photographic and video documentation of all events,

outlet for students to freely express themselves in a region experiencing perpetual

activities and projects. She also provides training to adolescents learning the art of

political, social and cultural decline. To date, she has produced two significant photo-

photography. In her own practise, Al Batniji is interested in street photography, as

based projects, the first entitled Road Works, and the second Al-Khidr Monastery

she feels the street is a portal by which she learns about lives, cultures, communities

Restoration Photography Book. @ rehaf_batniji

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Untitled, Palestine (2017)

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Untitled, Palestine (2017)

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Untitled, Palestine (2017) Corners from the series Things Bigger than the State of Isreal (2012) Photo Rag paper, 40 x 60 cm

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Clockwise: Untitled, gaza strip (2019) Adjacent, from the series Street is Life (2018) Photo Rag paper, 40 x 60 cm Untitled (2018) Untitled, gaza strip (2018)

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Untitled, palestine (2017)

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SERIES Artist - From Egypt, lives and works in Cairo.

Images - Courtesy of the artist.

Eslam Abd El Salam: You Know Where to Find Me Walking serves as a guide for me to recognize my surroundings. It opens doors of knowledge for me. I know more about myself through the eyes of the souls I encounter, the places I get a sense of, and even through the lens of my film camera, which I consider to be a dear friend.

How memories can haunt us and contribute daily and dearly to our sense of self; the lasting effect of family and childhood; and the past, present and the immediate now— there are notions that intrigue me.

Lately, I have been exploring the complementary feelings of presence and familiarity in concurrent projects. I continue to realise how certain feelings live within us and take many different shapes and forms as we get older. I aim to experiment with sound and moving image as extensions to my photography practise, as I believe it could order to deepen the emotional and visceral experience of the viewer when engaging with my work.

El Salam is a self-taught photographer and visual artist whose work explores the

internationally in Latvia, Finland, London, Saudi Arabia and in his hometown, Cairo.

relationship between the personal and the universal—mainly through the use of

Recently, he was selected as artist-in-residence at The Curfew Tower Residency in

analogue photography and mixed media. The artist’s work has been exhibited

Cushendall, Northern Ireland. @ eslamabdelsalam

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Bare with me from the series Untitled (2019) Analogue, c41 process, 221.6 x 336.0 cm

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Clockwise: Right where you left, The sun is at your door, Soliloquize and Away you go from the series You Know Where To Find Me (2019) Analogue photography, c41 developing

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Table for one from the series Untitled (2019) Analogue, c41 process, 221.6 x 336.0 cm

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SERIES Artist - From Morocco, lives and works in Casablanca.

Images - Courtesy of the artist.

Yoriyas: Casablanca, Not the Movie Casablanca, Not the Movie is a long-term project, started in 2014. It is both a love letter to the city I call home and an effort to authentically represent Morocco’s famous city for those whose perception of it is limited to guide-book snapshots, film depictions or Orientalist fantasies. The title of the project references the classic 1942 movie, Casablanca, which was never filmed in the city, but rather in a Hollywood studio. It approaches the human in a complex and contrasting environment: Diverse cultures and ethnicities, traditions, religions, urban development and post-colonial influences all seem in opposition to one another. Limited prospects force people to interact creatively in their urban environment, but also create challenges for photographers who seek to document the city. This series is an insider’s glimpse into the vibrant reality of Morocco’s biggest city from the perspective of a Moroccan, who was born, grew up and still lives there.

Yoriyas Yassine Alaoui Ismaili is a Casablanca-based photographer and performance

Hiip-hop culture, too, has been a great influence, as by the age of 16 Yoriyas was a

artist. His work has been featured in The New York Times, Nat-GEO, and Vogue.

practised breakdancer. In 2013, a serious knee injury halted his pursuit of a career

Awards include the Award Les Amis de l’Institut du Monde Arabe for Contemporary

in professional dance, and Yoriyas began experimenting with photography as a

Arab Creation and the 7th Contemporary African Photography Prize. Yoriyas started

means of self-expression. He has since exhibited internationally, participating with

playing chess when he was five years old, which triggered an interest in mathematics.

HERMÈS Foundation Paris, and 1-54 African Art-Fair Marrakech. @ yoriyas

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From the series Casablanca, Not the Movie (2014 - Present)

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From the series Casablanca, Not the Movie (2014 - Present)

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From the series Casablanca, Not the Movie (2014 - Present)

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SERIES Artist - From Yemen, lives and works in Dubai.

Images - Courtesy of the artist.

Ziryab Alghabri: Tintype Before exploring photography I worked as a graphic designer. I initially picked up a camera under the impression it would assist in my designs, but I soon fell in love with photography as an artistic practise. I also began experimenting with filmmaking. Through photography I accessed a new dimension of expression, and felt more connected to people and nature.

Intrigued by the numerous and obscure photographic methods used by artists, I learned about time-lapse, infrared and wet plate “tintype” technologies.

Today, my practise is very much informed by the concept of energy transference. My most affecting images are captured when I feel and connect with the emotion or energy of the person or landscape I am shooting. In particular, I am interested in personal narratives and natural phenomena. I am motivated by the concept of capturing the elusive ‘moment’ of magical alignment between artist and subject. I believe that an image has the power to channel the energy of its subject, and that is the relationship I seek with the people and places I shoot. I am interested in the simultaneous simplicity and complexity of photography as a medium, since a beautiful photograph could be technical and calculated, or intuitive and unplanned. Photography engages with everything. I am always striving to convey meaning in my photographs, and achieve a photographic ideal that is never fixed, but always changing.

Alghabri is a Yemeni artist currently based in Dubai. A self-taught photographer,

film The Gift Maker was awarded first place in the British Council’s ZOOM

he previously held a career in graphic design but transitioned to photography

Competition in 2010. Along with his brother Ameen, Alghabri is co-founder

and filmmaking after experimenting with his brother’s camera. Currently,

and co-owner of Gabreez Productions, a film and media production company

Alghabri specializes in time-lapse photography and cinematography. His short

based in Yemen. @ eslamabdelsalam_

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Wet plate, Tintype

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Wet plate, Tintype

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Wet plate, Tintype

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September 16–December 7, 2019 The Art Gallery at New York University Abu Dhabi Saadiyat Island, United Arab Emirates nyuad-artgallery.org | @nyuadartgallery 162 tribe