Art Exhibitions Now: Lebanese Photographer Akram Zaatari In Germany
Against Photography: An Annotated History of the Arab Image Foundation showcases photographs by Lebanese artist Akram Zaatari at Dusseldorf’s Kunstsammlung NRW until 25 February 2018
Curated by Hiuwai Chu of the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA), and Bartomeu Mari, and organised by MACBA and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA), in collaboration with Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, this is Lebanese artist Akram Zaatari’s first museum exhibition in Germany.
Delving into Zaatari’s archeological approach to image collection, preservation and organisational processes, the show considers his role in co-founding the Arab Image Foundation (AIF), which since 1997 has been amassing photographic evidence and objects. The selection focuses largely on traces of war and violence – “emergences” as the artist refers to them or the photographic objects that bear traces of key moments in people’s lives. Their re-presentation asks audiences to question the perception of photographs in relation to natural, social and political environments and developments through time. The exhibition continues Zaatari’s discourse on photography and its function, as well as expands on the evolution of AIF.