Akram Zaatari (born 1966 in

Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

) is a filmmaker, photographer, archival artist and curator. In 1997, he co-founded the Arab Image Foundation with photographers Fouad Elkoury, and Samer Mohdad. His work is largely based on collecting, studying and archiving the photographic history of the Arab World. Zaatari was selected to represent Lebanon at the 2013

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, curators for the Lebanese Pavilion.

Work

Zaatari has been exploring issues pertinent to post-war Lebanon. He investigates the way television mediates territorial conflicts and wars, and is particularly interested in logic of religious and national resistance movements, and the circulation and production of images in the context of today's geographic division in the Middle East. His work has been widely exhibited worldwide in biennales and venues such as the

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

and is in the permanent collection of museums such as

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It ...

and the Thyssen Bornemisza Contemporary.

Filmography

*Majnounak (Crazy of You), 1997 *Red Chewing Gum, 2000 *Her + Him VAN LEO, 2001 *How I love you, 2001 *This Day (al yaoum), 2003 *In this house, 2005 * Tomorrow Everything Will Be Alright, 2010 * On Photography People and Modern Times, 2010 * Letter to a Refusing Pilot, 2013

Awards

* Grand Prize of the 17th International Contemporary Art Festival SESC_Videobrasil in São Paulo (2011)

Publications

*''The Vehicle. Picturing moments of transition in a modernizing society'' ( Arab Image Foundation and Mind the Gap, 1999) *''Mapping Sitting'' (Arab Image Foundation and Mind the Gap, 2002) *''Hashem el Madani: Studio Practices'' (Arab Image Foundation, Mind the Gap and the Photographers' Gallery, 2004) *''Hashem el Madani: Promenades'' (Arab Image Foundation and Mind the Gap, 2007) *''Earth of Endless Secrets'' (

Portikus Portikus is an exhibition hall for contemporary art in Frankfurt am Main, that was founded in 1987 by Kasper König. The museum is part of the Museumsufer. Portikus presents the work of internationally renowned artists, and exhibits younger, eme ...

and

Beirut Art Center Beirut Art Center is a space for exhibiting contemporary art in Beirut, Lebanon History Beirut Art Center opened to public in January 2009. It is managed as a non-profit organization whose founders and executive board members were Sandra Dagher ...

, 2010) *''Against Photography'' (Kaph Books and MACBA, 2018) *'' Building Index. Rifat Chadirji '', edited by Akram Zaatari and Mark Wasiuta ( Arab Image Foundation and Kaph Books, 2018)

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

*''Akram Zaatari. Objects of Study,'' Galerie Sfeir Semler, Hamburg, 2007 *''Earth of Endless Secrets''. Writing for a Posterior Time, Beirut Art Center, 2009 *''Akram Zaatari''. Nature Morte, Baltic Mill, 2009 *''Akram Zaatari Composition for Two Wings'', Oslo, Kunstnernes Hus, 2011 *''Liverpool Biennial Spotlight Akram Zaatari'',

Liverpool Biennial Liverpool Biennial is the largest international contemporary art festival in the United Kingdom. Every two years, the city of Liverpool hosts an extensive range of artworks, projects, and a programme of events. The biennial commissions leading ...

, 2012 *''This Day at Ten,'' Le Magasin-Cnac, Grenoble, 2012 *''Akram Zaatari, Letter to a refusing pilot,'' Lebanese Pavilion, Arsenale, 55. Venice Biennial, Venice, Italy, 2013 *''Akram Zaatari, All Is Well,'' Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queens University, Kingston, ON, 2013-2014 *''Akram Zaatari, Unfolding,'' Moderna Museet, Stockholm, 2015 *''Akram Zaatari, Against Photography''. An Annoted History of the Image Arab Foundation, MACBA, Barcelona, 2017 *''Akram Zaatari. The Third Window'', Sfeir Semler Gallery, Beirut 2018

Group exhibitions

Documenta ''documenta'' is an exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. The ''documenta'' was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau (Federal Horticultura ...

(13), Kassel, 2012 * Across Boundaries. Focus on Lebanese Photography, curated by Tarek Nahas, Beirut Art Fair 2018

References

External links

Akram Zaatari at Galerie Sfeir Semler, Hamburg and Beirut

Akram Zaatari, Interview Revista Código

Akram Zaatari at Universes in Universe
*
Akram Zaatari profile
at

Kadist Art Foundation Kadist is an interdisciplinary contemporary arts organization with an international contemporary art collection. In addition to being a collecting body, Kadist hosts artists residencies and produces exhibitions, publications, and public events. ...

* Akram Zaatari a
in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art

Projects 100: Akram Zaatari
at The Museum of Modern Art {{DEFAULTSORT:Zaatari, Akram Lebanese photographers Lebanese filmmakers 1966 births Living people Lebanese contemporary artists