Nazar Photo Exhibit

(photo by Nadia Benchallal)

Nazar a new photo exhibit about the life and culture of the Arab people has just opened at Fotofest in Houston Texas. These images help Americans put the human element back into the Arab world.

A new photography exhibit opened today at Fotofest in Houston Texas featuring the life and art of the Arab people, hoping to develop new impressions to the American public who are so focused on images of oil and pictures of war. The exhibit titled Nazar which means seeing or insight is one of the largest Arab exhibits presented in the west. The exhibit displays over 250 images from 18 Arab photographers and 17 non Arabs some of which have never been seen here in the US.

"In Texas, especially, we've had close links with the Middle East," said Nandini Kandolha of the Bilateral U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce. "But an exhibit like this shows that there's a lot more there than oil. This puts a human face on the culture and the people." Kandolha was especially moved by the images of displaced Shiite refugees shot by Farida Hamak in Beirut.

"I wanted to show some symbols of how the people live," said journalist Khaled Tarek Fazaa, whose photos illustrate life in Yemen. "Most times, all Americans see of the country is war. This helps reflect a different culture and the life of Yemeni people."
The show is being brought by FotoFest from the Noorderlicht Photofestival in The Netherlands. It will then will be shown in New York city.

FotoFest is an international non-profit photographic arts and education organization based in Houston, Texas. FotoFest’s purpose is to promote the exchange of art and ideas through international programs and the presentation of photographic art. The programs work globally and locally, bringing together an international vision of art and cross-cultural exchange with a commitment to community involvement and the enrichment of Houston’s cultural resources.

"We have made extra efforts to break new ground for the sake of discovering wonderful things -- hidden treasures -- like the ones we have here," said Frank Baldwin, chairman of FotoFest. "If we're going to understand how other people think, we've got to view them on a human level."

The Nazar exhibit will be displayed at Fotofest in Texas until June 11, 2005.

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