Light or Shadow of What Light Was and Still Is
COLLECTIF 1200 Curated by Tarek Haddad and Betty Ketchedjian Casa Arabe x Photo ESPANA, Madrid
With text by Mysa Kafil-Hussain
Every year in the capital of Spain, Madrid becomes a meeting point for the international photography industry during PHotoESPAÑA, a city-wide festival which began in 1998. The festival’s aim is to provide a creative platform to bring together all corners of society, working with international institutions and local artistic communities, both professional and amateur.
The NUR competition—held jointly with PHotoESPAÑA and Madrid’s renowned cultural institution, Casa Árabe—celebrated its second edition during the festival, awarding Lebanon’s Collectif 1200 with an exhibition from their entry project proposal, In Light or Shadow of What Was and Still Is.
PHotoESPAÑA’s global outlook fused with its emphasis on community was mirrored in Collectif 1200’s ethos. A group of talented, diverse photographers from different cities and backgrounds, they are unified by their need for a support system, formed of a creative and multifaceted community, which allows them to learn, inspire, and process the struggles of life together.
Curators and collective members Tarek Haddad and Betty Ketchedjian put together a collection of powerful visual insights into modern-day Lebanon, with all the exhibited works photographed within the country. With Lebanon so often reduced to shallow think-pieces, this exhibition presented an opportunity for the photographers to take control of complicated narratives and show their personal reflections on the socio-political, environmental, and intimate complexities they face in the place they call home.
Exhibited photographers: Myriam Boulos, Manu Ferneini, Omar Gabriel, Paul Gorra, Elsie Haddad, Tarek Haddad, Betty Ketchedjian, Rima Maroun, Laura Menassa, Roger Mokbel, Walid Nehme
June 1 - September 25, 2022
Tarek Haddad, installation view, Casa Arabe, photographs by Ieva Saudargaite Douaihi, The Trees Before Last, 2021