For its 11th edition, the support program led by the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, the Magnum Foundation, and the Prince Claus Fund once again highlights and fosters the dynamism of photography in the Arab world.
A large blue fabric stands out against the desert landscape, connecting two photos. Under the cloth, human bodies can be seen standing, forming a striking graphic relief. The work is an excerpt from Address Not Found, a documentary project by Roba Alfaraouna dedicated to the spaces and Bedouin villages of southern occupied Palestine. In response to the lack of photographs and local documentation, the photographer seeks to capture and preserve these endangered narratives and landscapes. This impressive work is one of ten projects selected this year by the Arab Documentary Photography Program (ADPP). This initiative, which supports and promotes photography in the Arab world, provides a platform each year for a handful of visual artists, giving them the resources to work in their country of residence while also offering mentorship and workshops.
Conceived in 2014, the program is supported by the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, an independent foundation aimed at building a cultural and artistic scene by fostering dialogue between emerging and established voices in a rapidly transforming Arab world. Thanks to a partnership with the Magnum Foundation—which aims to “develop creativity and diversity in documentary photography”—and the Prince Claus Fund, the ADPP has supported 94 photographers since its inception, helping them challenge conventional narratives about the region through creative visual storytelling.
Exile and Territories
This year, the jury—comprising Egyptian artist, curator, and researcher Heba Farid, Palestinian photographer and professor Rula Halawani, and Turkish photographer and Magnum Photos member Sabiha Çimen—praised “the photographers’ ability to capture the diversity of their cultural heritage and offer innovative perspectives. The applicants’ commitment to conceptual depth and mastery of their craft was inspiring, with each project telling a unique story.” When making their complex selection, the four jury members were particularly moved by “poignant representations of loss, destruction, and the importance of acts of remembrance in the submitted projects.”
The winning projects explore themes such as exile, war, and territorial transformation. In Dear Home, Khalid Alarabi parallels his own displacement with archival records of forced exiles in Sudan. An Unexpected Tale From a No Longer-Forgotten City by Hassan Kamil documents his escape from Khartoum after the war, while On War and Displacement by Hashim Nasr examines the emotional impact of the Sudanese conflict. Omar Malas, with Existential Questions in the Time of Genocide, questions existence amid massacres. But We’re Nearing the Pomegranate Season by Rabab Chamseddine documents ecological resistance in Lebanon, and Address Not Found by Roba Alfaraouna preserves the threatened stories of Palestinian Bedouin villages. In Lowest Point on Earth, Maryam al-Khasawneh investigates the disappearance of the Dead Sea. Grey Is The New Green by Fares Zaitoon links urban destruction in Cairo to recovery after addiction. Ahmed Alaqra blends new and archival visuals to reconstruct the memory of a past landscape marked by violence in How to Fabricate a Memory? Finally, in Photo Boulos, Paul Gorra recreates an ephemeral photo studio in Tripoli to build a contemporary archive.
These projects showcase diverse subjects and approaches, but, according to the jury, they are united by “clear concepts, visual coherence, and emotional resonance. While the aesthetic quality of the images is important, the final selection reflects strong, creative, and unique projects.”
Benjamin Rullier
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