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Exhibition views
gallery Sfeir-Semler
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Akram Zaatari (* 1966 Saida, Lebanon) is a video
artist, photographer, archival artist and curator who lives and works
in Beirut. As author of more than 30 videos and video installations,
Zaatari has been exploring issues pertinent to Lebanese postwar condition,
particularly the mediation of territorial conflicts and wars through
television, the logic of religious and national resistance, and the
production and circulation of images in the context of a geographically
divided Middle East, such as in his feature length All is well on
the border (1997), This Day (2003) and In This House (2005).
As the Co-founder of the Arab Image Foundation (Beirut), Akram Zaatari
based his work on collecting, studying and archiving the photographic
history of the Middle East, notably studying the work of Lebanese
photographer Hashem el Madani (*1928) as a register of social relationsships
and photographic practices. His ongoing research formed the basis
for a series of exhibitions and publications such as Hashem El Madani:
Studio Practices (with Lisa Lefeuvre) or Mapping Sitting (collaboration
with Walid Raad).
Zaatari curated the Videobrasil “The Possible Narratives” (2004) and
recently exhibited at the Sydney, Săo Paulo and the Gwangju Biennal
in China (all 2006). He made text contributions in scholarly journals
such as “Third text”, “Bomb”, “Framework“, „Transition“, and „Parachute“.
He is a regular contributor, wirting on video, in „Zawaya”.
In the upcoming show in the Galerie Sfeir-Semler, Hamburg Akram Zaatari
will present his Madani Project: It is an ongoing project, that takes
the entire archive of studio Shehrazade (Saida Lebanon) as study material
to understand the complex relationship, which ties a studio photographer
to his working space, his equipments and tools, economy, and aesthetics,
and further explore his ties to clients, society, and the city in
general.
Initiated by Akram Zaatari and the Arab Image Foundation, the project
meets on the one hand Zaatari’s interest in living situations as objects
of study that testify on modern traditions and complex social relationships-
and on the other hand the Arab Image Foundation’s commitment to preserving,
indexing and studying photographic collections in the Arab world.
The Madani Project takes shape in a series of thematic exhibitions,
publications, and videos centered on photographer Hashem el Madani
(1928 - ) and his work. With the project unfolding, the archive of
studio Shehrazade is gradually being identified, described, and preserved
in Beirut as part of the Arab Image Foundation's photographic collection.
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Objects of study / Studio Shehrazade
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“Studio Shehrazade”, 2006
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“Tools”, 2006
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“Two Boys Posing with Gevaert film
advertisement. Saida 1966”, 2007
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“After they joined Military Struggle.
Saida early 1970`s”, 2006
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“Before they got their military training.
Saida early 1970`s”, 2006
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“Flash Failure photo log.
1950`s”, 2007
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“Flash Failure photo log. The
moments between. 1950”, 2007
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“Sixty young men posing while
crossing the Ain el Helweh bridge.
Saida early 1950`s”, 2006
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