PHOTO:2nd Photography Biennale of the Contemporary Arab World, Part I
Institut du Monde Arabe (IMA) is dedicated to cultural exchanges between Europe and the Arab countries, while Maison Européenne de la Photographie (MEP) is one of the most important exhibition spaces for photography in France.Established by IMA and MEP the aim of the Photography Biennale of the Contemporary Arab World aims to develop a unique panorama of the contemporary photographers operating in and on the Arab world since the early 2000s (Part II).
By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Institut du Monde Arabe Archive
After success enjoyed by the first edition of Photography Biennale of the Contemporary Arab World in 2015, the two institutions are pursuing the exploration of contemporary photographic work in this part of the world. Held simultaneously in eight Parisian venues: the IMA, the MEP, the Cité Internationale des arts, the Mairie of the 4th arrondissement, the Galerie Thierry Marlat, the Galerie Photo12, the Galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière, and the Galerie Binome, the biennial offers a diverse itinerary through the perceptions of the contemporary Arab world. Each exhibition venue display works by photographers from the Middle East who are either living in their native country or working abroad, in addition to works by foreign photographers who have witnessed and reported on the contemporary situation in Arab countries. In so doing, the biennial emphasises the importance of cultural diversity through art. The 2017 Biennale decided to focus on Tunisia and Algeria, also to Leila Alaoui, whopassed away while her portraits of Moroccans were being exhibited in the first edition of the Biennale. The central exhibition space is the IMA. The exhibition there is structured into four chapters: “Spring”, “Culture and Identity”, “Interior Spaces” and “Landscape”. The photos are accompanied by short statements in which the photographers give an introduction to their work and provide interesting background information. At the MEP, there is a presentation of photographs on various themes and in different styles by Hicham Benohoud, Farida Hamak, and Xenia Nikolskaya, taken in Algeria, Egypt, and Morocco respectively. It includes a retrospective of the work of Moroccan photographer Daoud Aoulad-Syad, and the Palestine-based photographer team Andrea&Magda in their work ″Sinai Park” focus on the economic crisis on the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula resulting from the Arab Spring on Tahrir Square. At the gallery of the Cité Internationale des Arts, Bruno Boudjelal presents the exhibition “IKBAL / ARRIVEES”, bringing together the work of 20 Algerian photographers under 30 and offering a poignant portrait of this emerging scene. At the Mairie of the 4th arrondissement, works by the photojournalist Michel Slomka provide an insight into the plight of the Yazīdī community, which has been the victim of Islamic State jihadists in Iraq. In the participating galleries, there is a presentation of photographs by Mustapha Azeroual and Sara Naim (Binome), Daniel Aron (Photo12), Marco Barbon (Clémentine de la Féronnière), and Randa Mirza and Zad Moultaka (Thierry Marlat).
Info: 2nd Photography Biennale of the Contemporary Arab World, Duration 13/9-12/11/17 (the exhibition at the MEP will close on 29/10/17 and the exhibition at the Cité Internationale des arts on 4/11/17), http://biennalephotomondearabe.com, Venues: The Institut du Monde Arabe, 1 Rue des Fossés Saint-Bernard, Paris, Days & Hours: Tue-Fri 10:00-18:00, Sat-Sun 10:00-19:00, www.imarabe.org, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, 5-7 Rue de Fourcy, Paris, Days & Hours: Wed-Sun 11:00-19:45, www.mep-fr.org, Mairie du 4ème arrondissement de Paris, 2 place Baudoyer, Paris, Days & Hours: Mon-Sat 9:00-17:30, www.mairie04.paris.fr, Cité internationale des arts, 18 rue de l’Hôtel de Ville, Paris, Days & Hours: Daily 12:00-14:00, www.citedesartsparis.net, Galerie Clementine de la Feronniere, 51 rue saint-Louis-en-l’île, Paris, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 11:00-19:00, http://galerieclementinedelaferonniere.fr, Photo 12 Galerie, 14 rue des Jardins Saint-Paul, Paris, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 14:00-18:30, www.galerie-photo12.com, Galerie Binôme, 19 rue Charlemagne, Paris, Days & Hours: Tue-Wed 13:00-19:00, http://galeriebinome.com, Galerie Thierry Marlat, 2 Rue de Jarente, Paris, Days & Hours: Mon-Sat 14:00-19:00, www.galerie-marlat.fr
