Maktaba Moment: Bound Narratives: A Photobook Gathering
- Posted on
- By Maktaba Bookstore
Tamara Abdul Hadi and Roï Saade held an intimate gathering at Maktaba, where we explored photobooks by artists from West Asia and North Africa, discussed photobook making, and reflected on photographic storytelling. This participatory session was an evening of photography, conversation and inspiration.
"Bound Narratives: A photobook library" is a project initiated by Roi Saade in 2022. It is a roving archive, workshop, and exhibition program conceived to promote photobooks by Middle Eastern and North African artists in an attempt to assemble their voices and start building an understanding of the history of the medium of photography in our region through photobooks.
Roï Saade is an interdisciplinary artist interested in the intersectionality between graphic design, photography, and the arts. Roï’s process-based practice centers on a close collaboration between artist, designer, and curator. His approach is complemented by comprehensive visual research and creative exchange. He is interested in finding and creating ways to resist systems of domination and inequality. Through photography, Roï investigates collective memory, both past and present. By documenting personal encounters and the social fabric of the community, Roï aims to shed light on the shared experiences and histories that shape our understanding of the world. Saade designs and curates photography exhibitions, film festivals, magazines and specializes in book design, where he blends his passion for visual culture and explores the social and cultural meanings of images.
Tamara Abdul Hadi is an Iraqi artist and educator whose lens based practice considers how colonial histories inflect photographic imaginaries. She engages photography and printed matter to tell stories about land, labor, and human connection particularly of the Arab world and its diasporic communities globally. Her research creation practice seeks to do this through photographic interventions, publications and education. Her work has been published in the mainstream media extensively, though she now prefers to work for more independent entities. Her photographs have been exhibited worldwide. Abdul Hadi’s photographic monograph, Picture an Arab Man, was released in 2022, published by We Are The Medium.
