Major collection of contemporary Middle Eastern photography to be exhibited at the V&A

A new contemporary photography exhibition focusing on Middle East, North Africa and central Asia will take place at the V&A museum in London from November 13, 2012 to April 7 next year. This exhibition will showcase the work of 28 artists from 12 different countries including international established names like Abbas (Iran), Yousef Nabil (Egypt) and Walid Raad (Lebanon) as well as emerging talents including Taysir Batniji (Palestine), Shadi Ghardirian (Iran) and Abdulnasser Gharem from Saudi Arabia.

More than 80 works mainly produced in the last 10 years by 22 emerging and established artists living in the region or in diaspora form the collection to date. The photographs will show the creative responses to the social challenges and political upheavals that have shaped the Middle East during the Arab Spring.

The range of photographs will be structured around three key themes: recording, reframing and resisting. Each will explore a range of strategies Middle Eastern artists have used to engage with the medium of photography.

Marta Weiss, curator of the exhibition said “Contemporary photographic practice from the Middle East and the region has been some of the most exciting innovative and varied art anywhere in the world. This exhibition will celebrate the creative and sophisticated ways that contemporary artists use photography to respond to the complexities of the Middle East.”

The exhibition titled “Light from the Middle East: New photography” is being put together in response to a surge of interest in the visual arts in the region and to remedy the under-representation of Middle Eastern photography in the UK.

This collection has been jointly researched, collected by V&A and British museums and supported by the Art Fund with over £150,000.

With an additional support from the Art Fund, the exhibition is set to tour the UK after its showing in London.