“Rawiya” means “She who tells a story” , a story of hope, determination, challenge, differences and stereotype breaking. 6 women shared different stories from reality scenes in the Middle East in a collective photography exhibition (The Other Resurrection) at Contemporary Art Platform CAP – Kuwait, the photographers are: Myriam Abdelaziz, Tamara Abdul Hadi, Laura Boushnak,Tanya Habjouqa, Dalia Khamissy and Newsha Tavakolian.

Coming from different backgrounds, nations and experiences, the 6 photographers told a story we may everyday hear and know, but their lense  captured it in a new approach and introduce the stories as if you hear it for the first time. Iranian artist, Newsha Tavakolian tells the story of sexual transformation citing a previous truck driver “Asgar” and now called “Maria” whose children cut off their relations with her after Maria story was revealed to the public.

Tanya Habjouqa from Palestine cites the story of challenging in the most abandon cities in the world, Gaza. Tanya captures the daily life of Palestinians inside the seized Gaza Strip where they only can walk, breath, eat, laugh, cry in few square kilometers or they will be killed by the Israelis troops. Lebanese photographer Dalia Khamissy tells the story of the missing people since the Lebanese war, through capturing their mothers and belonging.

 

French photographer of Egyptian origins Myriam Abdelaziz tells the story of one’s inner desire is revealed, the beauty of street art during January 25 Revolution in Egypt whereas Palestinian photographer Laura Boushnak is determination and hope storyteller; her photography focus on Arab women and education across the Middle East. Rather then simply turning her camera on the women, Laura encourages collaboration with her subjects—with women in literacy classes practicing their newly learned words on her photo negatives yielding surprising and inspiring images.

Tamara Abdul Hadi from Iraq and based currently in Lebanon tells the story of Arab men, reflecting the beauty in their differences, ambitions. She breaks the stereotype of focusing on women in art and their issues, Tamara approaches Men’s world from a different perspective which is a world very secretive and hard to get near, Arab men rarely express their emotions and fears loudly. But Tamara managed to break that rule with her photographs.

(The Other Resurrection) truly reflects the saying “A Picture Says Thousand Words” and it is running at Contemporary Art Platform CAP – Kuwait until May 30.

Cheers