Arab Image Foundation

Arab Image Foundation
Fondation Arabe pour l'Image
Established 1997
Location Beirut, Lebanon
Type Photography
Collection size 600,000
Director Zeina Arida
President Nigol Bezjian
Website Official website

The Arab Image Foundation (French: Fondation Arabe pour l’Image; (Arabic: المؤسسة العربية للصورة/ ALA-LC: al-mu`ssasah al-'arabiyah lil-surah) is a non-profit organization established in Beirut in 1997. It aims to track down, collect, preserve and study photographs from the Middle East, North Africa and the Arab diaspora.[1] Its expanding collection includes more than 600,000 from Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Iraq, Iran, Mexico, Argentina, and Senegal.[2]

History

Arab Image Foundation was created in 1997 by photographers Fouad Elkoury and Samer Mohdad, and artist Akram Zaatari as a reaction to the lack of photographic archives in the region and the rapid disappearance of the few that remained.[3] The collections reveal a large aspect of the social history of the Arab World, including the picture that Arabs have constructed of themselves since the creation of photography.[4]

The Foundation has become internationally and regionally recognized as the leading photographic institution in the Middle East. In addition to housing and conserving hundreds of thousands of photographs, the Foundation has spearheaded conservations and preservation projects in the Middle East, co-sponsoring workshops to disseminate the knowledge and skills needed to identify, restore, and conserve the Arab world's large photographic archive.[5]

In addition to on site facilities including a public space, a library, a research center and a laboratory, the AIF has organized multiple gallery and museum exhibits, and produced book publications, monographs, films, and collectible merchandise, such as postcards and postersook publications and films.[6] The foundation also runs a prestigious residency program for artists and scholars.[7]

Projects

Exhibitions

Publications

(Arab Image Foundation, 2004)

Films

Platforms

References

  1. "Arab Image Foundation". Monocle. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  2. "Arab Image Foundation - biennale 3". Thessaloniki Biennale. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  3. Shape, Emily (2011). "Preserving the photographic heritage of the Middle East". The Art Newspaper (222). Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  4. Parr, Martin; Badger, Gerry (2006). The Photobook: A History - Volume 2. London and New York: Phaidon. p. 129. ISBN 0-7148-4433-0.
  5. "Arab Image Foundation". Anna Lindh Foundation. 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  6. "Arab Image Foundation Residency Program 2011". Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa), Germany, Elke aus dem Moore, in cooperation with Universes in Universe - Worlds of Art. 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  7. "ashkal alwan: news and media". ashkal alwan. October 5, 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2012.

External links