“Close to here: Young Photographers from North Africa and the Middle East” is an exhibition comprised of 18 young photographers from 10 Arab countries, showing at the B’chira Art Center in Sabelet Ben Ammar, Tunisia.
Seventy-four photographs taken by young African photographers of the North and the Middle East between 2013 and 2014 will go on view, photographs made in workshops in Cairo, Casablanca, Alger, Tunis, Alexandria, Beirut, Ramallah, Amman, Khartoum, Erbil and Dubai. The participants include art school graduates, designers, architects and stylists, as well as economists and anthropology students.
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The subject of the exhibition is the relationship between man and his environment and the disruptions that increasing urban density can have on residents, objects and landscapes.
“In these pieces, the cities have an austere face, nature is harsh, altered, the landscapes are scarred by the urban density. In these photos where we sometimes cannot spot a living soul, man is still present, recorded across the material universe they have themselves created,” said a statement from the Goethe Institute, the German cultural organization behind the project.
Alaaeddin Jaaber
Goethe Institute
Alaaeddin Jaaber: born in 1984 in Amman, Jordan, and lives in Amman. After completing his graphic design studies, Jaber has been working as a creator since 2005 and has been taking photography classes since 2010. He has taken part in exhibitions in Amman and Amsterdam.
Othman Benjakkal
Goethe Institute
Born in 1992 in Casablanca, Morocco, Othman Benjakkal lives in Casablanca. Benjakkal works as a photographer in Morocco, where he has also been studying at LaSalle College since 2012.
Shadi Baker
Goethe Institute
Born in 1980 in Ramallah, Palestinian territories, Shadi Baker lives in Ramallah. After studying business management and IT at the University Al Quds of East Jerusalem, Baker has worked as an independent photographer since 2011.
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Nadia Mounier
Goethe Intitute
Nadia Mounier: born in 1988 in Cairo, Egypt, and lives in Cairo. After studying arts and design at Helwan University in Cairo, Mounier now works as an independent photographer. She has participated in several international exhibitions and artist in residence programs.
Boris Oue
Goethe Intitute
Boris Oue: born in 1992 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Oue lives in Marrakech, Morocco. Graduate of the Visual Arts College of Marrakech (Ecole Superieure des Arts Visuels).
Fatima Al Yousef
Goethe Institute
Born in 1987 in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Fatima Al Yousef lives in Abu Dhabi. She studied architecture, art and design at the American University at Sharjah. Al Yousef has taken part in exchange programs in the UK and in several photography workshops. Her work was shown in 2009 at the contemporary art festival “Art Dubai.”
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Qaïs Assali
Goethe Insitute
Qais Assali: born in 1987 in Naplouse, Palestinian territory, Assali lives in Jerusalem. He works as a graphic designer.
Mai Al Shazli
Goethe Institute
Mai Al Shazli: born in 1985 in Cairo, Egypt, she lives in Cairo and studies business management at Helwan University in Cairo. Her abstract and conceptual pieces have been shown in several exhibitions since 2011.
Gailan Haji Omar
Goethe Institute
Galan Haji Omar: born in 1981 in Erbil, Iraq, Omar lives in Erbil. Haki Omar works as a photojournalist for the regional press in Iraqi Kurdistan, as well as for the Iraqi photo agency Metrography. His photos have been shown in various group exhibitions in Iraq and Syria.
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Tarek Marzougui
Goethe Institute
Tarek Marzougui: born in 1975 in Jerissa, Tunisia, and lives in Tunis. Marzougui has, among other things, studied fine arts at the photography department of the Fine Arts School of Tunis. Since 2003, he has taught at the arts training centre of Nabeul and works as an independent photographer.
Mejdi El Bekri
Goethe Intitute
Born in 1987 in Tunis, Tunisia, Medji El Bekri lives in Tunisia and Germany. A fine arts graduate of the photography department of Carthage University in Nabeul, Tunisia, el Bekri has been working since 2009 as a set photographer for cinema and event organising.
Elsadig Mohamed Ahmed
Goethe Institute
Born in 1987 in Omdurman (Khartoum), Sudan, Elsadig Mohamed Ahmed lives in Omdurman. He studied Multimedia Studies at the College of Science and Technology of El Mashreq in Khartoum.
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Awel Haouati
Goethe Institute
Born in 1992 in Alger, Algeria, Awel Haouati lives in Paris, France and in Alger. After studying art history at the Sorbonne in Paris, Haouati is currently undertaking social anthropology studies at EHESS in Paris. She is working on a research project on colonial iconography.
Marwan Tahtah
Goethe Institute
Marwan Tahtah: born in 1981 in Beirut, Lebanon, and lives in Beirut. After studying architecture at the Institus Amliye in Beirut, Tahtah has been working as a photojournalist for the newspaper Akhbar since 2006. He has taken part in numerous group exhibitions both in his country and abroad and presented his first solo exhibition in 2011.
Manar Moursi
Goethe Institute
Born in 1983 in Kuwait City, Manar Moursi lives in Cairo, Egypt. After graduating with a Master’s degree in architecture and urbanism from Princeton University in the USA, she created Studio Meem in 2011. Her projects are presented and have received prizes in her own country and abroad. Moursi works for several publications (for example Sidewalk Salon: 1001 Street Chairs in Cairo), her articles have been published in various magazines and newspapers.
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Maryam Ahmed
Goethe Institute
Born in 1985 in Cairo, Egypt, Maryam Ahmed lives in Cairo. She studied ancient European civilizations at the fine arts faculty of the Ain Shams University in Cairo.
Hussam Manasrah
Goethe Institute
Hussam Manasrah: born in 1970 in Amman, Jordan, he lives in Amman. After studying fashion design, he has been working in this field since 1988.Since 2012, he has participated in artist in residence programs and his works have been shown in two group exhibitions in Amman.
Karim Aboukelila
Born in 1988 in Alexandria, Egypt, Karim Aboukelila lives in Alexandria and Zierikzee, Holland. He studied wall painting in the faculty of fine arts of the University of Alexandria. Aboukelila has participated in several group exhibitions in Egypt, Greece, Italy, Qatar, Slovakia, Holland and Turkey. He is an independent photographer and has a position as assistant at the fine arts faculty of the University of Alexandria.
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This post was originally published on HuffPost Tunisia and was translated into English.
