''Ibraaz'' is an

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity, and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed as "on lin ...

forum for

visual culture Visual culture is the aspect of culture expressed in visual images. Many academic fields study this subject, including cultural studies, art history, critical theory, philosophy, media studies, Deaf Studies, and anthropology. The field of vi ...

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

Publication

''Ibraaz'' publishes an annual online platform that focuses on research questions conceived through a network of editorial contributors based in the Middle East and beyond. Its key editorial aim is to publish emerging writers and artists, alongside work by internationally renowned writers, academics, curators, activists, and filmmakers. ''Ibraaz'' works by posing annual ‘platforms’ where a question is put to writers, thinkers and artists about an issue relevant to the

MENA The Middle East and North Africa (MENA), also referred to as West Asia and North Africa (WANA) or South West Asia and North Africa (SWANA), is a geographic region which comprises the Middle East (also called West Asia) and North Africa together ...

region. This platform is sent to respondents both within and beyond the MENA region. Content is added to the website every month. Contributions are archived every twelve months when a new platform begins. ''Ibraaz ''also publishes a series of books, edited by Anthony Downey, under the 'Visual Culture in the Middle East' title. To date, these have included ''Future Imperfect: Contemporary Art Practices and Cultural Institutions in the Middle East ''(Sternberg Press, 2016); ''Dissonant Archives: Contemporary Visual Culture and Contested Narratives in the Middle East ''( I.B. Tauris, 2015); and ''Uncommon Grounds: New Media and Critical Practices in North Africa and the Middle East'' (I.B. Tauris, 2014).

History

''Ibraaz'' was set up from discussions between Anthony Downey, Kamel Lazaar and Lina Lazaar. It was founded as a research platform to rethink stereotypical frames of reference that have defined discussions around cultural production from within and beyond the Middle East. The inaugural platform was launched as part of the 54th

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

in June 2011, alongside the exhibition ''The Future of a Promise'', the largest Pan-Arab exhibition to be held at the Venice Biennale. ''Ibraaz'' Platform 001 responded to regional developments across North Africa and the Middle East, the so-called ‘

Arab Spring The Arab Spring () was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings, and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began Tunisian revolution, in Tunisia ...

’ and its effects upon the visual culture of the region. ''Ibraaz'' is an initiative of the Kamel Lazaar Foundation.

Scope of coverage and activities

''Ibraaz''’s content covers mostly contemporary visual culture from or about the Middle East and its

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...

. However, it can also include non-visual culture, such as sound-based art, and other periods, such as

Modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradit ...

. The content consists of essays, interviews, reviews, artists' projects, platform responses and video contributions in its online channel. In addition to the online platform and publications, ''Ibraaz'' organize and co-host events relating to visual culture in the Middle East. These include book launches, panel discussions and the annual JAOU Tunis conference. In 2013, ''Ibraaz'' held the conference ''Future Imperfect: Cultural Propositions and Global Perspectives'' at

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The event featured contributors including

Douglas Coupland Douglas Coupland (born 30 December 1961) is a Canadian novelist, designer and visual artist. His first novel, the 1991 international bestseller '' Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture'', popularized the terms Generation X and McJob. He ...

, Raqs Media Collective, Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige, Zineb Sedira, and others. ''Ibraaz'' periodically collaborates with a range of international artists and organisations, frequently publishing online exhibition catalogues and audiovisual content. Such partnerships have included with Asia Contemporary Art Week's FIELD MEETING Take 4: Thinking Practice, held at the

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue between 88th and 89th Street (Manhattan), 89th Streets on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It hosts a permanent coll ...

and

Asia Society The Asia Society is a 501(c)(3) organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States (Manhattan, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle) and around the world (Hong Ko ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, USA in 2016; the

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

biennial Qalandiya International; the Delfina Foundation, London;

Hayward Gallery The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre in central London, England and part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings (the Royal ...

, London, and Maraya Art Center,

Sharjah Sharjah (; ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is the capital of the Emirate of Sharjah and forms part of the D ...

; and The Jerusalem Show,

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

Contributors

Notable contributors to Ibraaz include: *

Lawrence Abu Hamdan Lawrence Abu Hamdan (born 1985, Amman) is a contemporary artist based in Dubai. His work looks into the political effects of listening, using various kinds of audio to explore its effects on human rights and law. Because of his work with sound, ...

John Akomfrah Sir John Akomfrah (born 4 May 1957) is a Ghanaian-born British artist, writer, film director, screenwriter, theorist and curator of Ghanaian descent, whose "commitment to a radicalism both of politics and of cinematic form finds expression in ...

* Wafaa Bilal * Shezad Dawood *

Okwui Enwezor Okwui Enwezor (23 October 1963 – 15 March 2019) was a Nigerian curator, art critic, writer, poet, and educator, specializing in art history. Enwezor served as artistic director of several major exhibitions, including Documenta11 (2002) and th ...

Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian (; 13 January 1922 – 20 April 2019) was an Iranian artist and a collector of traditional folk art. She is noted for having been one of the most prominent Iranian artists of the contemporary period, and she was the ...

Coco Fusco Coco Fusco (born Juliana Emilia Fusco Miyares; June 18, 1960) is a Cuban-American interdisciplinary artist, writer, and curator whose work has been widely exhibited and published internationally. Fusco's work explores gender, identity, race, and ...

Hans Haacke Hans Haacke (born August 12, 1936) is a German-born artist who lives and works in New York City. Haacke is considered a "leading exponent" of institutional critique, and is considered to be the most harsh and consistent critic of museums among t ...

Mona Hatoum Mona Hatoum (; born 1952) is a Palestinians, British-Palestinian multimedia and installation artist who lives in London. Biography Mona Hatoum was born in 1952 in Beirut, Lebanon, to State of Palestine, Palestinian parents. Although born in Leba ...

* Emily Jacir * Gulf Labor * Walter D. Mignolo * Michael Rakowitz *

Beatrix Ruf Beatrix Ruf (born 1960, Singen, Germany) is a German art curator and art advisor who held the position of director of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam between November 2014 and October 2017. Formerly she was director of the Kunsthalle Zurich. She is ...

* Hassan Sharif * Wael Shawky * Adam Szymczyk * Ala Younis

References

{{Reflist

External links

''Ibraaz'' website

The Kamel Lazaar Foundation website

The I.B. Tauris blog, ''7 questions for Ibraaz’s Anthony Downey''

anthonydowney.com, ''Interview with Anthony Downey, Di'van Journal, December, 2016''
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