Akram Zaatari’s work is tied to the practice of collecting. He is deeply invested in researching photographic practices in the Middle East, examining how photography served to shape notions of aesthetics, postures and social codes. He is interested in looking at the present through a wealth of past photographic records. Zaatari has been focusing since 1999 on the archive of Studio Shehrazade in Saida (Lebanon) studying, indexing, and presenting the work of photographer Hashem el Madani (1928 – 2017) as a register of social relationships and of photographic practices.
Zaatari’s work reflects on the shifting nature of borders and the production and circulation of images in the context of the current political divisions in the Middle East. His videos and photographic installations look into technologies of image production and communication and the notions of surveillance, exploring the way different media apparatuses get employed in the service of power, resistance, and memory. For more information see his profile at Sfeir Semler Gallery or Kurmanzutto gallery.
Portrait caption: Photo by Marco Milan
Register for the event
Wavelength is an online lecture series that is a collaboration between VCUarts, the ICA, and VCUarts Qatar. A dynamic group of artists, designers, curators and scholars have been invited to share their work with the VCU communities in Richmond and Doha as well as the general public throughout the 2020–21 academic year. Lectures are free, but registration is required.