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Resolution of the "Nur 2022" call for entries

From February 28, 2022 until March 06, 2022
MADRID
Casa Árabe headquarters (at Calle Alcalá, 62).

On February 15th and 23rd, the meetings of the Evaluation Commission and the Jury took place, respectively, regarding the NUR 2022 Call for Entries organised by Casa Árabe and the PHotoESPAÑA Festival. In this second edition, a total of 42 projects were received, mostly from Arab countries.

Selected project:
The project selected to be exhibited at Casa Árabe as part of the PHotoESPAÑA 2022 Festival has been "In Light or Shadow of what was and still is", curated by Tarek Haddad and Betty Ketchedjian, which presents the work of twelve photographers grouped around the Collective 1200 from Lebanon.

The jury valued with great interest the focus that the project places on the current reality of Lebanon, conveying a sense of urgency to recount the events and the reality experienced over the last few years, through the narration of personal and collective experiences. In this sense, an exhibition approach that is almost conceived as an installation has been considered very interesting, integrating the photographic works of the twelve authors into a single story conceived as a loop and as a metaphor for the lives of the Lebanese: “our lives seem to turn around in an endless loop in which we’re stuck, in which history repeats itself”.

In the same way, from a conceptual perspective of photography, the proposal also addresses an interesting reflection on the referential function of photography by presenting the different series of works as a network, connected to each other. The museographic project proposed is very coherent with the issues raised and is well elaborated in relation to them.

Finally, the jury highly values the fact that this proposal arose from a collective of photographers consolidated almost naturally around the Hammana Artist House space in a mutual search for backing and support among the authors during the complex times in the country since the end of 2019 and after the explosion of the port of Beirut.

Special Mentions:
The jury would also like to note that it valued the following two projects with special interest: "The Blinding Light" with work by the artist Mounir Fatmi and presented by ADN Galería and which, based on a series of photomontages, proposes timely reflections on questions that have to do with identity and miscegenation or on the relationship between myth and science. Likewise, although in a very different register, the proposal "7x7" curated by Roï Saade and with works by seven artists from Morocco, Lebanon, Iran, Turkey, Algeria, the Emirates and Iraq, which deals with the ever-present issue of the modes of representation of the Arab world and the Middle East in the media and in the collective imaginary, trying to offer alternative narratives, has been highly appreciated.

In Madrid, 28 February 2022

Resolution of the "Nur 2022" call for entries
Myriam Boulos - Tell the trees to smile (2021)