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OSTKREUZ

OSTKREUZ was founded by seven East German photographers in East Berlin in 1990, shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, in a Germany that had not yet been reunified. Today, OSTKREUZ is the most renowned photographer-run photography agency in Germany and has a total of 26 members. The OSTKREUZ photographers all work both on commission and on freelance projects and realize joint exhibition projects. They are united by an artistic-documentary visual language and an orientation towards humanistic auteur photography - and this is also the premise for new members to be accepted into the agency in the first place. More than 30 years of political and social development in Germany before and after the fall of communism have been continuously recorded by the various generations of OSTKREUZ photographers since the agency was founded. The agency thus has a comprehensive image archive of significant, photographic contemporary documents of a third of a century, ranging from the 1980s to the present day. Based on this approach, the OSTKREUZ Exhibition on the festival theme "roots" shows twelve photographic positions emblematic of this epoch. The principles of the founding photographers Sibylle Bergemann, Harald Hauswald, Ute Mahler and Werner Mahler stand like the roots of a tree as the foundation for OSTKREUZ. These have grown steadily and, like branches, enter dialogue with the other generations of photographers in this exhibition.

Combined with the positions of the four founders the works of following OSTKREUZ members are on view: Jörg Brüggemann, Sibylle Fendt, Annette Hauschild, Thomas Meyer, Frank Schinski, Jordis Antonia Schlösser, Linn Schröder and Heinrich Völkel. Like the roots of a tree, the OSTKREUZ photographers do not remain on the surface of their subjects in their journalistic and artistic approach but delve into the depths of the events. They are all committed to the original idea of OSTKREUZ, turning their cameras at the people and their lives, while looking attentively at the present to record contemporary events shaping history. Thematically based on this credo, this exhibition presents 12 strong, independent positions like a tapestry of pictures - and at the same time tells a short, multi-faceted contemporary history of Germany over the last 35 years, from the origins of the agency to the present day. This exhibition is part of the 11th edition of Image Festival 2023, in collaboration with the Goethe Institut, Daraat al Tasweer, Ostkreuz, German Embassy, National Gallery.

Date
10-31 May
Opening event 6:00 pm
Address
Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts

7iber’s Camera: 10 Years of Photostories
7iber

7iber is a Jordanian and Arab online magazine that seeks to produce emancipatory knowledge that stems from ideals of social justice, accountability, and pluralism, through in-depth multimedia journalism, critical analysis, and public conversations. 7iber started in Amman in 2007 as a volunteer-run blog and citizen-media platform, before evolving in 2012 into a professional online magazine with a full time team and a large network of freelance journalists, writers, translators, and photographers from Jordan and the Arab world. In addition to its in-depth reporting and research-based production, 7iber has worked since its inception on designing and delivering training and learning programs in journalism, research, writing, storytelling, and digital skills, in partnership with numerous organizations in Jordan and the region. It has also organized many discussion events on issues important to the public. Financially, 7iber depends primarily on grants and project funding, in addition to training, consultations, and editorial services. It’s currently working on developing new sources of independent revenue to strengthen the organization’s resilience and sustainability.

Since its launch as a blog and citizen-media platform in 2007, and its transformation into a professional online magazine in 2012, 7iber has worked on capturing and documenting stories of average people and the issues they face from the north to the south of Jordan, in different journalistic formats, including documentary photography. In this exhibition, we get a glimpse of photostories captured by more than 10 photographers who worked at 7iber or collaborated with it between 2012 and 2022. Most of these stories are from Jordan, but some are from Palestine and Egypt. From the guards of telecommunication towers in the black desert near the Iraqi Jordanian border, to fishermen in Aqaba holding on to this work despite all the obstacles they face, and from camel herders on the Saudi-Jordanian border in Wadi Dahek, to Egyptians who work under gruesome conditions in stone quarries deep in the southern desert in Maan, these photos take readers into places they seldom get access to, bring them stories of marginalized people and communities often absent from mainstream media coverage, and document critical events that took place in Jordan over the past 10 years, giving examples of 7iber’s continued quest to help its readers better understand the context and nuances of socio-political and socio-economic transformations in Jordan and the region. Join us in this exhibition to celebrate 16 years since 7iber was launched in 2007, and help support 7iber’s journalism and knowledge production by purchasing these photos which will be available for sale throughout the duration of the exhibition.

Date
1-31 May
Opening event 3 May 6:30 pm
Address
MMAG Foundation - Villa Abu Al Huda

Jordan in Color, 1951 - 1985 | unseen color-slides
École Biblique

In addition to its huge collection of glass-negatives and vintage black & white printed photographs - which amounts in 2023 up to 32,000 scans, the École Biblique owns about 15,000 scanned color-slides. For this year’s exhibition, we choose to show colored slides of Jordan starting the year 1951 up to mainly 1974, with a single photo from the year 1985. This collection is coming from four different sets of archives: the oldest sets come from anonymous French pilgrims and visitors between 1951 to 1956, and the years after comes from former students of École Biblique, and finally the two generations of École Biblique professors, up to 1974 and the single photo from 1985.

Jean-Michel de Tarragon
Born 1945 in France. He became a Catholic priest in 1972. Since 1973 he has been in East-Jerusalem as a permanent member of the French Ecole Biblique. He studied cuneiforms (PhD) and old canaanite languages, and he taught ancient history connected to the Bible. He participated in the archaeological digs of the Ecole Biblique since 1973, and became the assistant photographer of the archaeological activities of Ecole in Jordan and in the Gaza Strip. Retired from active teaching, he is now fully in charge of the photo-collection of the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem.

Date
8-31 May
Meet the artist event 17 May 6:00 pm
Address
The French Institute

Faraway places, homes, and roots
Samuel Aranda

Roots make it possible for trees to stand and nourish themselves. In the case of humans, home is a feeling, the place where someone has grown up, where he feels safe, and where he comes back after any trip. A place where that someone knows its smells, corners, and secrets. It is important to not forget where one has roots no matter how much he has travelled.
What happens when that changes, when the long trips suddenly become long periods, months, or even years? What happens when one feels at home in one of those faraway countries that people had always told us were so different from ourselves?
You start changing coffee for mint tea and doing infinite efforts to learn how to speak Arabic or Bambara in Mali. Years pass differently and, little by little, the stereotypes that were built before traveling to those countries, start disappearing, dissolving in the construction of an emotional memory that stays forever and makes it hard to go back.

Samuel Aranda (Santa Coloma de Gramanet, 1979) began working as a photographer when he was 19 years old in the newspapers El País y El Periódico de Catalunya, in Barcelona. When he was 21, he covered the Palestinian-Israeli conflict for Agencia EFE. In 2004, he became part of the France-Presse Agency, where he carried out several articles in Pakistan, Gaza, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine, Morocco, Western Sahara, and China. In 2006, his project about African migrants trying to get to Europe was granted the ANIGTV National Photography Price. That same year, he worked again as an independent photographer on projects about the Aral Sea in Uzbekistan, social situations in India, the independence of Kosovo, the conflict in Colombia, the dispute regarding Moldova and Transnistria, the kids in the streets of Bucharest, and the Camorra in Napoli.

In 2011, he covered the Arab revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, Libia, and Yemen; that project was displayed in the Instituto Cervantes of New York and was selected to be part of the (Top 100 Photos of 2011) of the New York Times. He received the World Press Photo Award in 2012 for a picture on the Yemen conflict and the Ortega y Gasset Prize in 2016 for a project on the migratory crisis in Europe, among other prizes.

He also received a BBVA scholarship to carry out its project (En las Orillas del Rio) (In the Nile’s Shores), to document the Nile River from Alexandria to the border with Sudan. In 2020 he received an allocation from the Vila Casas Foundation to support his project (Territorio) (Territory).
He currently lives in Paris and is a member of the agency Panos in London.

Date
10-31 May
Opening event 7:00 pm
Address
Cervantes Institute

Dust : Egypt's Forgotten Architecture
Xenia Nikolskaya

Egypt's Forgotten Architecture Between 1860 and 1940, Cairo and other large cities in Egypt witnessed a major construction boom that gave birth to extraordinary palaces and lavish buildings. These incorporated a mix of architectural styles, such as Beaux-Arts and Art Deco, with local design influences and materials. Today, many lie empty and neglected, rapidly succumbing to time, a real-estate frenzy, and an ongoing population crisis. In 2006 photographer Xenia Nikolskaya began the process of documenting these structures. She gained exceptional access to them, taking photographs at some thirty locations, including Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor, Minya, Esna, and Port Said. These photographs were documented in the first edition of Dust: Egypt’s Forgotten Architecture, which soon after its release in 2012 became a rare collector’s item. This revised and expanded edition includes photographs from the first edition together with extra unseen images and new photographs taken by Nikolskaya between 2013 and 2021. It also includes previously unpublished essays by Heba Farid, co-owner of the Cairo-based photo gallery Tintera, and architect and urban planner Omar Nagati, co-founder of CLUSTER, an urban design and research platform also in Cairo. The American University in Cairo Press

Xenia Nikolskaya, award-winning (Russian born) Swedish photographer and curator currently based in Cairo. Member of the Russian Artists’ Union and CFF(Centrum för fotografi, Sweden); former Curator of the ROSFOTO Russian National Centre of Photography, former Head of Rossiya Segodnya exhibition project department, long time project manager for the Swedish Institute. During her work as a heard of exhibition department and photo archive at RIA Novosty, Xenia curated about 50 exhibitions and edited several books, including “Anatoly Garanin, Soviet Union” that been shortlisted Russian National Book Design Contest – Zarkniga. Xenia taught photography in the Russian Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, American University in Cairo, and Rutgers University, New Jersey. Since 2019 she is teaching photography at German University in Cairo. Xenia is a Fulbright fellow and holds her Ph.D. from University of Sunderland, UK. She was also in a jury of Andrey Stenin International Photo Contest and Ukrainian Photographer of the year. She took part in more than 40 international exhibitions( 20 of them solo shows) in major cultural venues namely: Medelhavsmuseet, Stockholm, Sweden; The State Hermitage Museum, Saint-Petersburg, Russia; Das Staatliche Museum Ägyptischer Kunst, Munich; Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt; Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar; L'Institut du Monde Arabe and Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris among others; and is held in prestigious collections, such as The State Hermitage Museum. Author of the books "Dust: Egypt’s Forgotten Architecture", "The House My Grandfather Built" (Swedish Photobook Award 2021) and "Dust: Egypt’s Forgotten Architecture. Expanded and Revised Edition”.

Date
1-31 May
Opening event 7:00 pm
Address
MMAG Foundation - Villa kawar

The Final Days of Georgian Nomads
Natela Grigalashvili

Mountainous Adjara is one of the most distinguished regions of Georgia. The traditions and the old ways of life have been preserved to this day in this area. The isolation and alienation of inhabitants of this mountainous area has been an ongoing issue for a long time. Difficult social and economic situation in the country has hindered development of this region and integration of its inhabitants with the rest of the country. Due to the absence of basic living conditions, many Adjarian villages are now empty. Many families have become eco migrants as they were forced to move to other regions of Georgia or aboard, mostly in Turkey. The residents of Adjara are mostly cattle breeders. Due to the lack of pastures, cattle owners take their herds to the mountains in the summer and stay there till late autumn. Nomadic Adjarians have to move several times a year. But despite this, most of the men still have to work in Turkey holding seasonal jobs for additional income. Because of this difficult situation this mountainous region with unique traditions and lifestyle is slowly getting empty and this traditions and distinguished lifestyle is being forgotten.

Natela Grigalashvili is a freelance documentary photographer based in Tbilisi, Georgia. In the past Grigalashvili has worked as a photo reporter as well as a film operator. In the beginning of her carrier she used to shoot with black-and-white film but for more than a decade Grigalashvili has been taking color photographs with a digital camera. Artist mainly works on long-term documentary projects in the rural areas of Georgia focusing on the lives and issues of people living in villages and provincial cities. While working on a photo series Grigalashvili focuses on the story which is told by the image. Natela Grigalashvili is a recipient of numerous international and local awards including Alexander Roinishvili Prize for her contribution to Georgian photography in 2007.

Date
4-31 May
Opening event 6:30 pm
Address
ZARA Centre

Between the Worlds
Nurith Wagner-Strauss

A photos and audio project by Nurith Wagner-Strauss What makes for a „rich“ life? 23 portraits of women, 23 life stories. They were born between 1915-1935 and were young girls during the Second World War or still children. They come from different social backgrounds, some from an urban, others from a rural environment. Some are physically and mentally fit, while others are more frail and show signs of dementia. In her large-format pictures, photographer Nurith Wagner-Strauss captures what exists in a personality at the end of life. She explores the question of how and where the boundaries of reality, of time, of the here and the long since pasted become blurred. The black-and-white photographs are hung in front of divergent, translucent portraits that can be read as a metaphor for the inexorably approaching removal of the soul from the body, or as the women talking about their lives, childhoods and youth. Faces of very old women are simply beautiful. There is a fullness of lived life in these faces and they also radiate something so soft, delicate, fragile, vulnerable that is so touching and beautiful. Each of the women tells from her individual biography and together it becomes a kind of collective biography, a biography of this time from a woman's perspective. These women, coming from most diverse social backgrounds, are an essential part of Austria’s history. History is always focused on men but is much more than a sequence of great deeds, great men, great battles. This exhibition shows hidden and female aspects of our history.

Born in Melk/Austria Studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna. Mag.art, concert diploma in baroque recorder, Residency in Sudan for one year Intensive engagement in photography Since 1987 freelance photographer Photo reportages about Roma in Southern Peleponnese /Greece, about Syrian refugees in Horgoš / Serbia and in Vienna / Austria, about children in slums and migrant workers in India, about the NGO Nishta in Himachal Pradesh, India Working as a theatre photographer at Volkstheater Vienna for seventeen years and since 2008 for the theatre festival "Wiener Festwochen". Multiple solo exhibitions and participation in group exhibitions Lives and works in Vienna / Austria The focus of Nurith Wagner-Strauss’ work is on women and children in their social context. She feels a social responsibility, which she expresses through the artistic means of photography. Wagner-Strauss strives to illuminate the poorest, to portray their dignity, to show their hope and their moments of happiness - and thus to awaken the empathy of the viewer and to stimulate reflection and discussion about human destinies in an intercultural context.

Date
2-31 May
Opening event 7:00 pm
Address
Al Mashini Cultural Center

Surface Tensions
Peter Bogaczewicz

Surface Tensions investigates the contemporary landscape of the Arabian Gulf, where the effects of human activity on the natural environment leave a particularly noticeable mark. The region’s visual purity highlights even the lightest intervention in the landscape as if it were a foreign body. Yet the interventions on this land are far from being light; the process of building ambitious infrastructure and projects, the act of putting down roots, is transforming the landscape at lightning speed. This confluence of nature and culture is an ever-evolving dynamic that is turning progressively more complex while often becoming increasingly fraught with tension. And although humans are not alone in shaping their environment, we are uniquely placed in the animal kingdom in that what we shape ends up posing a mounting alternative to nature, transforming it into the man-made, or at the very least, man-altered, environment. It reveals a deep tension between what can be seen as progress - the aspirations of the human community and the environment. Here the human element has a particularly noticeable presence, there is no effort at concealment that the land is there to be dominated, and progress is in itself a force of nature, rivaling nature itself.

Peter Bogaczewicz (b.1974 in Warsaw, Poland) is a Canadian photographer and architect based between Riyadh and Halifax. He studied at the Technical University of Nova Scotia, Dalhousie University and Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax, before embarking on a career in architecture and architectural photography, while developing an art practice. He uses his photography projects as a commentary on the relationship of the natural environment, the built environment and the human community.

Date
5-31 May
Opening event 5:00 pm
Address
Jacaranda Images

How shall we greet the sun
Thana Faroq

This project explores the personal narratives and complex emotional landscape of the lives of a small group of young women refugees living in the Netherlands. The work reflects on our life journeys, and it seeks to project forward toward futures both real and metaphorical. Many of these women, including myself, are in phases in life where they are challenged to construct identities within new cultural contexts and geographies of power, as well as within their memories and the nostalgic representations of the past they possess. Thana creates a photographic exploration about a generation of women refugees in The Netherlands, how their identity is constructed and deconstructed from their current land and the one they left behind. We are in a kind of archaeological restoration program, where we try to build and construct a new life over the ruins of our past losses. Our homes are under construction. Our bodies are under construction. Our finances are under construction. Our identity is under construction.

Thana Faroq is a Yemeni photographer, writer and multimedia artist based in the Netherlands. She works with photography, texts, sound, and the physicality of the image itself as a way to respond to the changes that have been shaping and defining her life and sense of belonging both in Yemen and the Netherlands Thana's positioning as a photographer is informed by her reflections on her subject matter, tuning in to other people’s lived experiences with which she continually grows familiar. She also increasingly seeks her own story in the frame. Her work mirrors her life and provides a visual echo of her voice as she gracefully negotiates themes of memory, migration, and intergenerational trauma. Thana has a unique approach to working with her subjects in that she regularly returns to them to continue sharing their journey. Many of these migrant, stateless individuals were with Thana during her transitional period. Amongst her honors, Thana was a recipient of the 2018 inaugural Open Society Foundation Fellowship Grant and the 2019 Arab Documentary Fund supported by the Prince Claus Fund and Magnum Foundation. In 2020 She was selected by the British Journal of photography as “ Ones to watch” Thana also the recipient winner of Foto_Win photo book award 2021 Thana received her BA in Government and International Relations from Clark University, and MA Photography and Society at The Royal Academy of Art, The Hague. How shall we greet the sun This project explores the personal narratives and complex emotional landscape of the lives of a small group of young women refugees living in the Netherlands. The work reflects on our life journeys, and it seeks to project forward toward futures both real and metaphorical. Many of these women, including myself, are in phases in life where they are challenged to construct identities within new cultural contexts and geographies of power, as well as within their memories and the nostalgic representations of the past they possess. Thana creates a photographic exploration about a generation of women refugees in The Netherlands, how their identity is constructed and deconstructed from their current land and the one they left behind. We are in a kind of archaeological restoration program, where we try to build and construct a new life over the ruins of our past losses. Our homes are under construction. Our bodies are under construction. Our finances are under construction. Our identity is under construction

Date
4-31 May
Opening event 6:30 pm
Address
ZARA Centre

(last/ first) (raw) (bozat)
Hussam Hasan

The Last/ First Portrait,” “What (We) Eat (Raw),” and “Bozat at the Slaughterhouse” are a series of photography projects that capture and document the complex relationships between humans, sheep, and goats. “The Last/ First Portrait” is a photography project that primarily focuses on sheep and goats. The project captures the animals through a series of portraits for the first and last time just before they are taken to be slaughtered. Its goal is to preserve the memory of these animals and honor their sacrifice. The photographs capture the essence of each animal’s unique character, their facial expressions, and the emotions that come with the realization that they will soon be gone. In addition to “The Last/ First Portrait,” the project has extended to “What (We) Eat (Raw),” These photographs are centered on the organs of sheep and goats that we consume such as sheep testicals, heart, tongue and more. The series is unapologetically raw and unfiltered, showing the reality of what we eat. “Bozat at the Slaughterhouse” is another part of the ongoing photo series that documents the intricate relationships between humans, and cattle. The project features a visit to the largest slaughterhouse in Amman, where portraits of the butchers were captured in their natural work surroundings. The goal of the series is to offer a glimpse into the daily lives and work environment of the butchers and their relationships with the animals they handle.

Hussam Hasan is an Amman-based visual consultant, artist and photographer. His work primarily explores art in the public space, borders, and movements, with a focus on sociopolitical issues. He has initiated works in various contexts from Amman, Basel, Sion, and Beirut, to name just a few, and his practice plays with, and often blurs the line between art and photography.In 2017, he was awarded the Hans Wyss Foundation scholarship to study in Switzerland where he received his master’s degree in Art in the Public Sphere from École de design et haute école d’art du Valais (édhéa). He has worked extensively with various local and international organizations of culture and media.

Date
1-31 May
Opening event 7:00 pm
Address
MMAG Foundation - Villa Abu Al Huda

White Gold
Amina Kadous

The first seeds of my identity were planted in El Mehalla Al Kobra, home to me and Egyptian cotton. Through my young eyes, my grandfather’s house beamed with light and memories reflecting the cotton threads that extend three generations back. My great grandfather was a merchant of silk and wool, one of the first in El Mehalla to lead the initial stage of the popular manufacturing textile trade at the time. In the late 1960’s my grandfather established his textile factory in the city and my father joined him in the 1980’s, continuing to weave our family threads and plant the cotton seed. White gold is an ongoing search for my personal and national identity. A cycle of loss and possibilities. Questioning what makes us who we are. A journey of becoming. Visually aiming to open up discourses around origin, memory, abandoned history, land use and preservation, personal trauma, the battles we fight within us as we try to place ourselves in a constantly ever-changing world. I see myself reflected in the cotton’s journey. Drawing on the legacies of my grandparents, their archives, and my own country’s eroding history, I try, through this work, to reconnect and recollect what is left of our own withering seeds of cotton. What once was a major symbol for our Egyptian identity and our cultural wealth and that ties us all to our historical past.I explore the origin, evolution, erosion, and revival plans.Beneath the layers, unfolds the lineage of Egypt, from the past to its present we witness today. What could have been, what could still be, and what have we lost?

Amina Kadous (1991-) is a visual artist based in Cairo, Egypt. She received her Bachelor in Fine Arts from Tufts University and The School of the Museum of Fine arts in Boston. Her work tackles concepts of memory and identity. She believes in the ephemerality of experience. Nothing lasts, documentation of experiences, of the objects and moments of the physical world only lasts when it is passed on. She believes a photograph is an object that holds memories and meanings, keepsakes that give life. Photography as an art has been a medium allowing her to treasure, hold and bless the past she has not lived but only through the stories and eyes of those who have narrated it. Her work is a linkage between the past and present through the layers of time as they fold and unfold. The exploration of time serves, for her, as a means for understanding who she is as a person. Characterizing herself as an explorer of ideas, she is driven by the spirit of inquiry as she seeks to comprehend the meanings and hidden ambiguities of lives, not her own, through the interactive nature of viewer, photographer, object and environment. She is driven by experience as a woman and an Egyptian. That is her signature: her work, like time, evolves… Her work has been exhibited locally and Internationally.

Date
1-31 May
Opening event 7:00 pm
Address
MMAG Foundation - Villa kawar

RITURNÉ” Mauro Curti
Mauro Curti

Riturné (Come Back in Piedmontese language) is an exploration of the inner self through the return to one’s hometown. The province of Cuneo, in the northern Italian region of Piemonte, seeing it with new eyes after many years living out of the country. The need to establish a new connection with it. This project is a study of the relationship between man and territory, the own personal conflicts, the idea of family and belonging. Is the reality in which I grew up with its places, people and beliefs. Memory, absence, home. What is gone and what sooner or later will also disappear. Riturné is the attempt to maintain and preserve a living connection with a past that is becoming history. Freezing small fragments before they melt. Because everything is impermanent.

Mauro Curti (IT, 1980) is a documentary photographer who lives and works between Cuneo (IT) and Madrid (SP). Growing up in a small village, near the Alps in northern Italy. After several jobs in different sectors, he took a course in photography before leaving Italy for a research trip focused on the practice of the use of the photographic medium traveling around Central and South America for several years. He settled in Buenos Aires in 2015 where he deepened his photographic studies approaching analog photography. At the end of 2019 he returned to his hometown and started working on the long time project Riturné, for which he won a Scholarship for a Master's Degree in Documentary Photography at the TAI University (URJC), in Madrid, where he currently resides. His first long time project Riturné was featured in several group exhibitions in international venues in 2022, such as Círculo de Bellas Artes de Madrid (SP), Villa Borghese in Rome (IT) BFoto Festival of Aragón (SP) and Paris and Photometria Festival (GR). In the same year he was selected in Discoveries PhotoEspaña. He has been finalist of Circulation(s) in Paris, Photo Collective Stories in Melbourne (AU) and Photolux Festival in Lucca (IT). In 2023 he takes part in the Boutographies Festival in Montpellier (FR).

Date
2-31 May
Opening event 6:00 pm
Address
Fann Wa Chai

The Lost Lake
Fatma Fahmy

Lake Qarun, located in the Fayoum in south west Egypt, is one of the oldest lakes in the world, containing fossils that are millions of years old. During the Pharaonic era, flooding meant that this low-lying lake was supplied with freshwater from the Nile, but since the start of the 20th Century, the lake is not supplied with any fresh water. Instead, the waters of the Nile are currently feeding nearby agricultural lands.it has grown increasingly saline and various fish species have already disappeared due to heavily polluted & impacted by climate change, and the health of Lake Qarun and the wildlife within it are now seriously endangered by its rising saline level, which is higher than that of seawater. To compound this, a parasitic infection has spread throughout the lake, which has negatively impacted fish production and quality, thereby harming the fishing community in Fayoum: the number of fishing boats operating in the lake has decreased from 605 to just 10 boats.
Thousands of fishermen and their families have already been displaced to Lake Nasser in Aswan, South of Egypt, causing many to lose their ancestral roots and emotional connection to their land.
My main objective is to bring attention to a lake that might soon disappear, and explore how the deterioration of Lake Qarun has harmed its community & their environment.

Fatma Fahmy (b. 1991, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) is an Independent Visual Storyteller, based in Cairo. Fahmy obtained a B. A degree in Chemical Engineering from Cairo University in 2013.
She focuses on environmental concerns and social issues affected by the environment and migration.
In 2020, she was a recipient of the Daniele Tamagni Grant at the Market Photo Workshop which assisted her to join the Photojournalism and Documentary Photography Programme. In 2020 she was named by the PhMuseum as one of the African Photographers you should know. She has been working with several local and international NGOs since 2021. Clients include Reuters, Libération, Prier magazine, RVO, CNN, and National Geographic Magazine. Her photographs have also been exhibited in Ethiopia, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and the United Arab Emirates.

Date
4-31 May
Opening event 6:30 pm
Address
ZARA Centre

Achtung
Samar Baiomy

Is the city of Alexandria's past like its present? While I was walking down one of Alexandria’s marketplaces (Souq Al Gomaa) a market that specializes in selling junk, it came to my attention that there were red brick buildings that looked quite old. The market corners had signs written in both English and French. My curiosity peaked. I had to get in. I stepped inside. And I traveled back in time. Inside cotton pressing factories (Bourse Mina al-Basal). I learned that these factories were established in 1872 to deal with the export of cotton from Egypt. The expansion of the city's trade and infrastructure came in the wake of Egypt's integration into the European global economy which was once witnessing the history of Alexandria. However, I was standing in the aftermath of the destruction of such greatness and prosperity. One bad cotton seed was planted during the nineties brought the industry to its knees. The ghosted building had many stories to tell in the specks of dust and spider webs in place of what once was a space of industrial production. It was evident that the workers were happy as they left traces of their memories written on the walls of the factories. Once I entered one of the buildings, it seemed as though it was just now abandoned by its people leaving nothing behind but traces of a strong presence of the spirits of both people and machines who were once part of keeping it alive. After all this prosperity, the place was closed permanently in the nineties, wasting time within it and transforming its features, and now there is so much to be said about the memories, stories, and history of what once was a great industrial area. My storytelling project “Factories without workers” in Alexandria started with an interest in urban history and industrial architecture, and how this bears witness to the lives of human “workers” living around and within it. My explorations then pushed me into unfolding the fragility of buildings and spaces and how they live on in personal memories and histories of the past rather than factual history found in books and archives, devoid of emotions and perspective of the people at the time. I am now at a place where I am most curious about the human and experiential aspects of this relationship and personal narrative between space and memory in the factories, and this is what I aim to further explore throughout my doctoral.

Samar Baiomy is a visual artist and photographer. Born and raised in Alexandria, she teach photography and come from an academic background in Fine Arts; holding a Master of Arts degree and having spent two years studying and researching in the Ecole Supérieure d’Art, Aix-En-Provence, in France. As both a person and an artist she is interested in spaces, architecture, collective memories, the people's lives and experiences that intertwine with and within them. She explores materials, ideas, meanings, and the hidden ambiguous aspects of life that surround us. her works have been exhibited at multiple cultural venues in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UK, USA, France, and South Africa, Amman including Kent university in USA and University of Global Health Equity/Rwanda. in addition to various local and international publications. she is the winner of many prizes (Mo Ibrahim foundation in UK, Sheikh saoud Al Thani award in Qatar, also she was one the participant in image festival Amman 10th edition, and taswer festival 2023in Qatar.

Date
4-31 May
Opening event 6:30 pm
Address
ZARA Centre

Spiritual Journey
Rachid Ayadi

In this project, most of the paintings focused on Algerian folklore and dance in an abstract manner in an attempt to integrate photography and visual art and dance to reveal the silk movement of the dancer, which highlights the emotional and aesthetic dimension of the dance and removes some ambiguity behind these expressive physical movements of a lot of feelings from the slumbering dance and diwan to the knobs and gunpowers to the amazigh. The Festival of Sabibah or Eid Salem al-Tuareg in the far south of Algeria, which symbolizes peace and tolerance and communication. It is the largest day ever for the Tuareg people and is linked to historical events dating back hundreds The years dance to the rhythm of masked men wearing war dress and carrying their swords They show off their combat capabilities in acrobatic movements with contents that repress the fighting, and paintings with human dimensions that make the scenes discover the nobility of the Tuareg people and their quest for peace. The Festival of Sabibah or Eid Salem al-Tuareg in the far south of Algeria, which symbolizes peace, tolerance and communication. It is the biggest holiday ever for the Tuareg people and is linked to historic events belonging to hundreds. Diwan or Knawah is a special ritual and its spiritual atmosphere originates from the country of Sudan and is spread back to slaves coming from brown Africa. They also carried with them their music in their pockets, throats and body movements, and sang for freedom, emancipation and suffering wherever thrown by ships. Man always seeks rich means to express his feelings about reality. or an event confronted by such means as to express an absolute human condition. And without exception, one of these means comes the dance language to take its human advantage. When any human being dances, any human being has no location whatsoever. or his language, he listens to this language and interacts with it without hearing a single verbal.

Date
6-31 May
Opening event 6:00 pm
Address
Foresight32 Art Gallery

Untold Stories
Samah Arafat

Being a daughter and a niece of “Stamps Collectors”, I was fascinated by the “Stamp Albums” My father and uncle owned since late 1940’s. To build a narrative, I interviewed few Stamp Collectors who were enthusiastic to tell their journey, explaining how each stamp is considered as a “Miniature Art” that represents historical milestone for countries, yet brings joy and happiness once owned. “Untold Stories” aims to be a journey through time by displaying portraits of amateurs and their collection of stamps, letters, albums, notebooks, and other tools used in this hobby.

Samah Arafat is an amateur photographer who started to develop a passion for photography in her 20’s. Through her lens, she was able to explore new horizons, capture moments, and tell stories. Samah believes that a “Photography” is universal language that everyone speaks regardless of their background, and that was her drive to participate in different exhibitions and competitions locally and regionally.

Date
13-31 May
Opening event 5:00 pm
Address
Jasmine House

Project statement - Short version (for catalogue)
Diyae Nejm

NEJM is a photographic installation made between 2019 and 2021, based on my family’s testimonies and recollections. The installation highlights these almost invisible threads through a relational navigation between family members. The stitched lines create an imaginary stellar landscape, they form constellations where the members are perceived as stars. We are projected into a larger scale that surpasses the physical space of the photograph itself. Drawing on my family's collection of memorabilia, I learn to unfold the method of archival research to highlight the importance of oral histories, collective memory, and vernacular practices in understanding what it means to archive. It advocates the unlearning of methods and discourses brought about by colonialism and brings to light individual stories excluded from official records in order to re-tell, rewrite and re-create.

Date
1-31 May
Opening event 7:00 pm
Address
MMAG Foundation - Villa Abu Al Huda

How Was Everything, Before all This Ruin?
Ameen Abokaseem

I was raised in the Yarmouk Palestinian Refugee camp on the outskirts of Damascus. In the camp, I'm not Palestinian. in the city of Damascus, I'm labeled as a refugee. Where ever I go, I'm treated as a stranger. I don't have a way out, neither a passport nor a family. I never had a home. I'm afraid of being stuck here, though I constantly seek reasons to stay. I find myself possessed with loose ends. The love and intimacy we share in a deserted place is a layer of poetry that allows us to survive in the midst of uncertainty and daily trauma. The events that started in 2011 Is still present in my mind. We have lost the smell of the land we love.

Palestinian-Syrian Multidisciplinary visual artist, documentary photographer, and Cinematographer, Based in Damascus. Member of ADPP, Magnum Foundation, Prince Claus Fund, and Al-AYOUN. He will graduate in 2023 from the Higher Institute for Dramatic Arts where he studies BA in visual arts.
Ameen Abokaseem started using photography in 2016 as a way to communicate and express himself, his work focuses on personal surroundings looking at toxic lifestyles and methods of survival. recently received a mentorship by "AFAC" for he's first Project "How Was Everything, Before All This Ruin?" which participated in "AN EXPRESSION OF ABSENCE" exhibition at Magnum Foundation & BDC in New York, an exhibition with Fondazione imago mundi in Italy, also received a production grant from Ettijahat for he's second project "my Short-term memory". And currently working on his cinematic debut with the support of Südkulturfonds.

Date
1-31 May
Opening event 7:00 pm
Address
MMAG Foundation - Villa Abu Al Huda

Waqf
Gaëtan Soerensen

« Waqf » is a documentary work by Gaëtan Soerensen. Initiated in 2017 and completed in 2022. For 5 years, Gaëtan Soerensen went several times to the West Bank to find and document a piece of land, in the heart of Nablus, belonging to a family exiled after the Six Day War in 1967. The members of this exiled family, the Fakhreddine, unable to see their land again, point out that this land is under the legal status of a cadastral act: the waqf. The waqf places the land under sequestration and makes it's impossible to sell, as it belongs ad vitam æternam to the family and their descendants. The waqf is compiled in a handwritten document called the waqfiyya. By traveling to Palestine, Gaëtan Soerensen was able to observe the contours of this land and meet the members of the Fakhreddine family who chose to remain there in order to administer this land and to maintain the waqfiyya attesting to their ownership. The work seeks to expand our knowledge regarding these documents, the information contained therein, as well as our perceptions about the lands they describe; in a way, to make them see and speak, and thus reveal their complex depth.

Gaëtan Soerensen (born in 1993 in France) is a photographer and graduate of the École Nationale Supérieur de la Photographie d'Arles (France). He is currently pursuing research and creative work on the Palestinian territories (West Bank). By photographs, films and installations. A work of those attempts to unravel the notion of property (Waqf). A porous assembly of forms always in links with the anchoring. A will documentary will to redefine the notion of ground.

Date
4-31 May
Opening event 6:30 pm
Address
ZARA Centre

Kan ya makan
Hanae Boutayeb & Lucie van der Beek

Hanae and Lucie met in Nablus in January 2022 while working in the humanitarian sector. Upon seeing its old city, they fell in love with its people, architecture and authenticity. Their shared passion for storytelling, cultural heritage and adventures quickly created an inseparable bond between them. Out of their friendship, and a visceral need to find the beauty within humanity’s chaos, grew an, at first, personal artistic project. Week by week and encounter after encounter, their vision slowly took shape.
In July 2022, The city witnessed several military operations, which injured and killed many, as well as caused material damages. Taking pictures was forbidden by local militants in order to protect the old city. For a while, the two photographers stopped taking pictures. A feeling of responsibility, to tell the stories of Nablus before it was too late, grew in them. They later were able to collect some additional material with a mobile phone.
Today stands in front of you the result of a year-long friendship, and socio-anthropological art project in Nablus. The goal is to make you wander the streets of the old city, where the cultural roots are still preserved, and experience people’s seemingly ordinary lives in such a historical place. From the sound of the mosque and the church bells resonating together, to the street vendors, the smell of knaffeh, coffee and nabulsi soap, you will get to discover Nablus’ unique atmosphere.

Hanae Boutayeb grew up in Morocco, then moved to France to finish her university studies. She first worked in the banking sector in Paris before realizing this was not her purpose. After a year-long trip to Latin America, she came back to Europe and entered the humanitarian world. She worked with Refugees in Greece during the Pandemic, before moving to Palestine at the end of 2021, where she spent a year on a mission in Nablus.
Since her early age, Hanae has always been fascinated by social interactions within multicultural settings and often naturally became a facilitator in connecting people from different cultures. Her time in Nablus inspired her to transform those experiences into an interactive artistic and cultural project.
Lucie van der Beek is a French creative with a diverse background. Her passion for photography and painting was clear from an early age. She was gifted a small digital camera at the age of 10 and won a photography competition at SOAS London. After studying International Development, humanitarian work took her to the Middle-East and Afghanistan. During a mission in Palestine, it became clear that her interest in topics of cultural heritage, identities and storytelling was unfulfilled. For the first time, she felt that sharing her experiences with others could have a positive impact. Together with Hanae, she decided to embrace her childhood passion and create “Kan ya makan”.

Date
3-31 May
Opening event 5:30 pm
Address
Manara Arts & Culture

An Anatomical Study
Remote Closeness

An Anatomical Study is an imaging project that reflects on current states of being. The urban space is infested with discarded objects that, like gangrene, continue to infiltrate natural and organic spaces. In the same manner that X-ray images are studied to evaluate injuries, disorders and diseases, this photographic body examines the anatomy of synthetic objects as they spread out like roots and symbolize society’s systemic removal from its origins.

Remote Closeness is a collective of artists and art practitioners who, through research and creative art programs and exhibitions, seek to imagine novel and sustainable approaches to art practices in Jordan and beyond. The collective came together through the support of Factory’s Public Art Program by the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, the Goethe-Institut in Jordan and the Institut Français de Jordanie and was funded by the Franco-German Cultural Fund. Throughout the years, Remote Closeness worked on curating various programs including "An Other Normal" in 2021 and "Shifting Grounds: ديمومة" in 2022.

Date
1-31 May
Opening event 7:00 pm
Address
MMAG Foundation - Villa Abu Al Huda

Out of Place
Sally Tulaimat

“I always longed for true belonging. The belonging that calls out to us when we wake up in the morning: You have something in this world, so stand up... do you know it? Deception crumbles away, for I wanted solid ground to stand on. We can deceive everything except for our own feet. We cannot convince them to stand on fragile, icy flakes hanging in the air.” Ghassan Kanafani November 4th, 2016 was the day I landed in Berlin, Germany; with my entire life packed in a suitcase and a handbag. A blank page, a pang of guilt that started to creep in, and a foggy future. It felt as though I’d stepped to live into two worlds. Each with its own distinct and separate path, one in which I was like a child, learning to speak and trying to connect with others, and another in which I had already spent 26 years. And every day new questions would unfurl: What’s home? Does Berlin hold me in its grasp? Have I put down roots here, or is my quest still in motion?

Sally Tulaimat a photographer and visual artist from Syria. Starting at the age of 19, she used her camera to capture everything that caught her attention. In 2015, she received a bachelor’s degree in Media and Applied Arts from The University of Kalamoon. Sally’s relationship with photography has been turbulent, much like life in Syria throughout the war. After relocating to Germany in 2016, she began to re-establish her connection with the camera. Today, Tulaimat uses photography to explore, express and (re)connect.

Residency Project

Asylum seeker
Hassan Albukaai

Hassan’s first personal project, which documents the lives of a group of young people residing in the capital, Amman, as asylum seekers. It sheds light on the developments and progress in their lives in the capital, nearly ten years after they moved there.

Hassan Albukaai born in 1996, In Damascus - Syria, Hassan moved to Amman, Jordan in 2013, and in 2015 his journey in photography began when he got his first camera, and it began to become an important part of his life. After that, he completed a series of courses and workshops with the Darat Al Tasweer in Amman. Then he started working as a professional photographer in several areas, specialized in wedding photography, commercial photography, and studio photography. With the Image Festival Amman, Hassan completed several workshops with photographers of different nationalities, And he did several exhibitions through them in Jordan and abroad. Hassan is currently working on his first personal project, supported by the photography department and supervised by photographer Laura Boushnak. Which documents the lives of a group of expatriate Syrian youth in the capital, Amman. Mesquita shows a unique and sensitive way of seeing the world.

Residency Project

Bedouin
Khadija AlFaqeer

The project tells of women from the Bedouin tribe in Petra who share a return to normalcy within the archaeological site, which is interspersed with difficulties and fatigue at a time when their children resort to a modern and easy life. My father and all my aunts lived the archaeological site of Petra inside the caves, and they always told me about their stories and their hard lives that they miss today. There were not many family photos documenting that life except verbal stories. Today I want to go back to documenting a part of this life that was 37 years ago and what has changed this life with women who want to come back to this life.

Independent Bedouin Petra filmmaker worked as a facilitator of the Petra Film center with the royal film commission. She Made the First fiction Short Film with the Support of RFC the contribution to the production of the French Institute. She was then moved to be independent and train young people in the governorates on filmmaking and storytelling tools. She worked with the CBRL as a project officer and filmmaker to document the Bedouin heritage in Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine. she is interests in documenting intangible oral heritage in Jordan’s governorates

Residency Project

TA.DH.AM: A PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION FROM YEMEN

Communities develop places, traditions and rituals that enable as well as strengthen the connection and cohesion between its members. In the process, each individual bears responsibility not only for themselves, but also for the collective. This becomes particularly relevant during times of crisis. The Arabic word ta.dh.am stands poetically for holding onto one another, coming together - the embrace. The group exhibition addresses the importance of this concept within societies giving an intimate insight into the everyday life and special moments of togetherness of people in Yemen. Artistic interpretations of ta.dh.am are exhibited by five Yemeni photographers who individually feature one body of work following an open call by the Goethe-Institutes Amman and Bonn. They were selected by a jury of photographers from Jordan and Yemen.

Photographic
Abeer Aref (*1995) invites the viewer into the house of her grandparents and offers a very personal insight into her family life. Her photographs reveal the importance of family, caring for each other and connecting.
Similarly intrigued by the notion of community, Somaya Samawi (*1996) documents moments of a henna celebration where women drink tea together and dedicate themselves to their solidarity. Using abstraction as a method, she shows us the beauty of communal daily rituals.
Mohammed Abdulkhaleq (*1991) introduces the viewer to the philosophy of Yemeni architecture, as his own interpretation of the theme. If a stone could speak, which stories would it tell? The photographer explores this question and thus refers to the rich history of Yemeni heritage.
Sadiq Al-Harasi (*1996) shows scenes at the side of the road in rural areas in which people cross paths randomly. The artist’s observational eye shows fleeting moments of people and the land.What do his contemplations of such moments tell us about the people portrayed?
Al-Baraa Al-Sameai (*1996) captures life in the city of Taizz in southwestern Yemen. He focuses on moments of collective harvest.
The photographers observe different scenes with a curious eye and use their artistic expression to portray their own emotions towards their surrounding environment and communities. Through their experiences, the exhibition celebrates diverse aspects of life in Yemen despite the current rift within the fragile context of the country inflected by the war.

Date
4-31 May
Opening event 6:30 pm
Address
ZARA Centre

Photograph to bridge society, Palestine

انا جذر يناغي عمق هذه الارض” عبد اللطيف عقل/ رسالة الى صديق قديم


On this quotation the participants built their stories. They focused on old cities, old buildings, trees, and influencing people, to show their roots in Palestine. For Palestinians, an olive tree, an abandoned house key [key of return], a mighty worship place is a root proof of their existence. With the ongoing Palestinian struggle, the matter of existence raises, and the tensions can be highly observed on the teenagers. Therefore, the concept of ‘roots’ was mostly reflected in their stories as a symbol of origins and standing-still. CPS strengthens civil society actors that offer psychosocial counselling, support and trauma-specific therapies and create ‘safe spaces’ to promote the resilience and self-determination of the target groups. The CPS Media Project aims to achieve a continuous information exchange among Palestinians, particularly young adults, in Gaza Strip and West Bank including East Jerusalem, to contribute to a social change and majorly break down prejudices and stereotypes of their communities, and to help strengthen their confidence to present positive portrayals.

Photographers
Yousef Abu Jayyab
Hassan Saleh
Nael Ikhmais
Tamara Manasra
Ahmad Butma
Malek Abu Rmeleh.

Date
4-31 May
Meet the artist event 12 May 6:00 pm
Address
ZARA Centre

Voices from refugee communities

Voices from refugee communities are often unheard, or forgotten. With the aim to give the tools and channels to share stories of identity, roots, and community, the organization Jesuit Refugee Service Jordan (JRS) partnered with photographer Linda Al Khoury to organize a photography storytelling workshop for members of refugee communities. This exhibition showcases the final projects of the participants. This work is part of the mission of JRS to accompany, serve and advocate on behalf of refugees and people in need. JRS has been operating in Jordan since 2008, responding to the needs of vulnerable people and all refugees, including communities other than Syrian, who are usually marginalized and underserved. JRS offers spaces and opportunities to create bridges of solidarity among communities, moments of encounter and participation.

Photographers
Abeer Zakaria Ishaq Kafe, from Sudan
Albachar Zakaria Idriss, from Central African Republic
Araaf Mansur Ali Hussein, from Syria
Esraa Mansur Ali Hussein, from Syria
Mashaeir Hassan Bashaier Mohammad, from Sudan
Namarig Yagoob Jadeen, from Sudan
Omnia Alameen Abdalla Aldood, from Sudan
Silvia Mazzocchin, JRS Communications and Advocacy Manager

Date
11-31 May
Opening event 6:00 pm
Address
Società Dante Alighieri

Zaha Cultural Centre Kids

Zaha Cultural Center was built upon the donation of Mrs. Zaha Jardaneh Mango out of her belief that children are the foundation of our society. She aimed for a centre that motivates children to look for their identity, discover their potentials and boost their creativity through providing them with an interactive environment fit for them and with extracurricular activities full of challenge and innovation.



Photographers
Fatima Al Khawaldeh
Mahmoud Safi
Rama Masoud
Rafiq Abdulqader
Bandar Hamoudeh
Sami Nasrallah
Supervising trainer: Leon Kefelian

Date
20-23 May
Opening event 10:30 am
Address
Zaha Cultural Center Kids
Zaha Cultural Center