Van Leo, Cherihan, Cairo, 1976 Courtesy of the American University, Cairo
National Public Radio interview with Issa Touma(6MB MP3)

Among its many meanings, the Arabic word NAZAR
means 'seeing' or 'insight'. The exhibit is a journey through
many countries and many ways of seeing.

The show is brought by FotoFest from the Noorderlicht Photofestival in The Netherlands. It is being shown first in Texas and then will be shown in New York.

The exhibit is a complex and fascinating look at contemporary Arab cultures in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Tunisia, Iraq, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, United Emirates, Yemen, and Algeria.

Bringing the show to the United States is a collaboration between two internationally well-known photography organizations - FotoFest International in Houston, Texas and the Aperture Foundation in New York City.

A Look Back, an electronic presentation of historical work from Arab countries and the famous Fondation Arabe pour l'Image archive in Beirut accompanies the contemporary works.

In its entirety, NAZAR is unlike anything shown in the U.S. about the Arab world to date. The show was originated and organized by Noorderlicht curator Wim Melis.

Houston has the inaugural presentation. In Houston, FotoFest is collaborating with the contemporary art space, The Station. The NAZAR exhibit opened with Arab Eyes and A Look Back at FotoFest's downtown gallery on April 8, 2005. Opening April 23, overlapping with the Arab works, FotoFest and The Station present Western Eyes by non-Arab photographers at The ArtCar Museum.

Read a review of the exhibition from the Houston Chronicle.

The exhibition is accompanied by a 268-page book. There have been forums, student tours, and artist talks connected with the exhibit.

On Tuesday May 3, 2005, FotoFest and the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University sponsored a talk entitled "IMAGE-MAKING: Culture and Photography in the Arab World" in cunjunction with the NAZAR exhibition. The talk featured Arab scholor and curator Michket Krifa, and NAZAR artist and festival director Issa Touma. Both contributed essays to the NAZAR book. More about the event.

Nadia Benchallal, Karima, Algiers, Algeria, 1994 Courtesy of Contact Press Images		Ed Kashi, Bedouin Drilling for Water, Syria, 1992 Bedouin in desert drink tea while drilling day and night for water. Courtesy of Corbis Photos
Arab Eyes Contemporary Arab Photographers		Western Eyes Contemporary Western Photographers
Nadia Benchallal (Algeria/France) Hicham Benohoud (Morocco) Nabil Boutros (Egypt/France) Hichem Driss (Tunisia) Lalla Essaydi (Morocco/US) Khaled Tarek Fazaa (Yemen) Tarek Al-Ghoussein (Palestine/Kuwait) Rawi Hage (Lebanon/Canada) Rula Halawani (Palestine) Farida Hamak (Algeria/France) Noel Jabbour (Palestine) Ahmed Jadallah (Palestine) Youssef Nabil (Egypt) Randa Shaath (US/Egypt) Anas Al Shaikh (Bahrain) Greta Torossian (Lebanon) Issa Touma (Syria)		Abbas (Iran/France) Paul Blackmore (Australia) Wouter Deruytter (Belgium) Michael von Graffenried (Switzerland) Gaston Zvi Ickowicz (Argentina/Israel) Barry Iverson (US/Egypt) Monique Jacot (Switzerland) Laura Junka (Finland) Ed Kashi (US) Jeroen Kramer (The Netherlands) Benjamin Lowy (US) Max Pam (Australia) Reza (Iran/France) Ahikam Seri (Israel) Lars Tunbjork (Sweden)
A Look Back Historic Arab Images
Fondation Arabe pour l'Image (Lebanon) Lehnert & Landrock (Austria/Switzerland) Marc Garanger (France) Van Leo (Egypt)
As of April 8, 2005
Fayez Sarofim & Co. Aramco Services Company Nijad I. Fares Abdel K. Fustok MD Susan Vaughan Foundation, Inc. The Clayton Fund The Wortham Foundation City of Houston through the Cultural Arts Council      of Houston/Harris County The Bilateral US-Arab Chamber of Commerce The Station The ArtCar Museum Margaret Regan and Fletcher Thorne-Thomsen, Jr William and Rosalie Hitchcock Gay Block and Rabbi Malka Drucker CarnesEly LLP The Arab-American Cultural & Community Center KUHF 88.7 FM Trans Arabian Sound Fadi's Mediterranean Grill Mediterranean Palace Buffet