Photography exhibition zooms in on Sana'a

The attendees look at one photo show two men looking for hope through their daily life.

As part of the German Cultural Weeks of 2009, Yemen, in cooperation with the Yemeni Ministry of Culture, the German Embassy, and the German House of Sana’a and Aden, is holding a double exhibition, which began on October 18th and will continue until October 29th, at the Sana’a House of Culture.

 
The exhibition is titled “Zoom on Sana’a” and is the result of a joint German-Yemeni photography project conducted this year. The exhibition consists of the works of  seven Yemeni photographers, who were assigned to take a series of photos that fit within a main motif.

 The Yemeni photographers and their themes are as follows:

- Najat al-Kubi “Any women” or “Where is the girl with the guitar going all by herself?”
- Salwa al-Sharabi “Child, to marry”

- Mohammed Khalifa “The city tells the story”

- Abdullrahman Jaber “Endless”

- Ibrahim al-Gaffari “You are my eyes, I’m your eyes”

- Bushra al-Fusail “10kg of justice”

- Amin al-Ghaberi “70s harmony/ID killer”

 The German house has been organizing cultural events in Yemen since 2003. Guido Zebisch, the German House director and project consultant coordinator expressed his content with the project, “I’m happy to be able to carry out these projects in times when Yemen faces security, economic, and political problems.”

 
“The motive behind these kinds of projects is partly to enhance Yemen-German relations. We also wanted to focus on the artists as well. Artists are personalities who capture society. This kind of event is an opportunity where artists can express themselves and can get in touch with artists from Germany. Plus, Yemeni artists have all this creativity which shouldn’t be hidden,” he stated.

 
“Telling a story through a camera is a challenging mission, but the participants made a remarkable effort by letting the photos themselves tell the stories. The purpose of this project was to trigger this creativity and focus on these photographers’ minds in a series of photographs. These are the stories from the photographers’ minds; we only gave them the chance to express them,” Zebisch added.

 
 “I’ve been doing this for 5 years now. I come from a family that loves photography.  My father and brother are photographers and I really like photography as well. I’m so happy to participate in this project and I want to thank the German House for its support,” shared Amin al-Ghaberi, who is one of the photographers featured in the exhibit.

 
Another participating photographer, Bushra al-Fusail, already works in producing documentaries, but this is her first opportunity to exhibit her work. “I recieved lots of encouragement from the people I work with and here I am. I’m happy to be here and I hope I’ll have my own exhibition one day,” she said.

 
 Kim, one of the visitors, expressed her opinion about some of the photos: “I’m impressed by the techniques. There is a professional quality and confidence in using the camera which I like. Actually, the point of this event for me is that Yemeni people are very artistically inclined.”

 
The exhibition comes at a time when a number of artists are trying to make a name for themselves within the shy artistic movement in Yemen.

 
Ibrahim al-Gaffari, one of the other photographers, talked about what this project meant to him. “I’m very happy about this exhibit and I’m not going to stop here.  One day I’ll hold my own exhibit, not that I don’t enjoy group participation, but I’m so competitive and I really want my dream to be a reality.  Lots of people criticize when they hear about photographers and that is very rude and negative,” he said.

 
“I’m so thankful for the German House and Germany Embassy. I know that in Yemen lots of Europeans are wondering why they should support Yemen after what happened to the German tourists. The response to this question is a great answer. The response is that they care for art and peace,” al-Gaffari stated.

 
 It’s been an old question: is art for art’s sake only? Al-Gaffari feels that art is for peace and art. He said, “I don’t know if art is for art only. I only started photography a year ago.  My series is “Your eyes, I’m your eyes,” and my message was to prove to and remind everyone that our faces and our eyes have a strong effect and we don’t need any other. We can deliver powerful messages to the world through the eyes. So, just speak from your eyes.”

 
 Another visitor to the exhibition, Abdullah al-Abassi, said that he thinks that art needs encouragement. He shared that “this is the first time for me to attend an event like this and I’m impressed by the creativity. Photography is an art that not everyone excels at, and I hope there are a lot more events like this in the future.”

 
 Najat, another one of the Yemeni photographers, shared her thoughts on the exhibit. “I’m so happy that women’s participation has increased from what it used to be. Women are on the right path. It’s a difficult mission to photograph in Yemen since it’s traditionally so private, but I wanted to prove that women could do a lot with a veil. Most importantly, I thank the German House director for encouraging us the whole way. I hope for more art events throughout the year.”

 
“I’d like the visitors to be astonished by the beauty of Yemen. We want to convey Yemen’s beauty regardless of the current problems. I’m so proud of the Yemeni participants and we hope to carry on with more projects,” Mr. Zebisch concluded.

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