Akram Zaatari
Akram Zaatari (born 1966) is a Lebanese filmmaker, photographer, archival artist and curator. In 1997, he co-founded the Arab Image Foundation with photographers Fouad Elkoury, and Samer Mohdad. His work is largely based on collecting, studying and archiving the photographic history of the Arab World.
Akram Zaatari
- Born
- 1966 · Sidon.
- Nationality
- Lebanon
- Occupation
- photographer · archivist · filmmaker · exhibition curator · artist
- Honours
- Yanghyun Prize
- Languages
- Arabic · French · English
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Akram Zaatari (born 1966) is a Lebanese filmmaker, photographer, archival artist and curator. In 1997, he co-founded the Arab Image Foundation with photographers Fouad Elkoury, and Samer Mohdad. His work is largely based on collecting, studying and archiving the photographic history of the Arab World.
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Authority files
gnd · 1023817578 · wikidata · Q4701629 · wikipedia · Akram Zaatari
In this article
Early life
Early life
Zaatari was selected to represent Lebanon at the 2013 Venice Biennale by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, curators for the Lebanese Pavilion.
The recorded working language is Arabic, French and English. Places of work recorded in the authority are Beirut. Work by Akram Zaatari is recorded in the collections of Museum of Modern Art, Tate, Van Abbemuseum, M HKA - Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen and Vtape. Distinctions recorded are Yanghyun Prize.
Zaatari was born in Sidon, Lebanon year: 1966.
Work
Work
He has been exploring issues pertinent to post-war Lebanon. He investigates the way television mediates territorial conflicts and wars, and is particularly interested in logic of religious and national resistance movements, and the circulation and production of images in the context of today's geographic division in the Middle East. His work has been widely exhibited worldwide in biennales and venues such as the Centre Pompidou and is in the permanent collection of museums such as Tate Modern and the Thyssen Bornemisza Contemporary.
Filmography
Filmography
• Majnounak (Crazy of You), 1997 • Red Chewing Gum, 2000 • Her + Him VAN LEO, 2001 • How I love you, 2001 • This Day (al yaoum), 2003 • In this house, 2005 • Tomorrow Everything Will Be Alright, 2010 • On Photography People and Modern Times, 2010 • Letter to a Refusing Pilot, 2013
Solo exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
• Akram Zaatari. Objects of Study, Galerie Sfeir Semler, Hamburg, 2007 • Earth of Endless Secrets. Writing for a Posterior Time, Beirut Art Center, 2009 • Akram Zaatari. Nature Morte, Baltic Mill, 2009 • Akram Zaatari Composition for Two Wings, Oslo, Kunstnernes Hus, 2011 • Liverpool Biennial Spotlight Akram Zaatari, Liverpool Biennial, 2012 • This Day at Ten, Le Magasin-Cnac, Grenoble, 2012 • Akram Zaatari, Letter to a refusing pilot, Lebanese Pavilion, Arsenale, 55. Venice Biennial, Venice, Italy, 2013 • Akram Zaatari, All Is Well, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queens University, Kingston, ON, 2013–2014 • Akram Zaatari, Unfolding, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, 2015 • Akram Zaatari, Against Photography. An Annoted History of the Image Arab Foundation, MACBA, Barcelona, 2017 • Akram Zaatari. The Third Window, Sfeir Semler Gallery, Beirut 2018
Group exhibitions
Group exhibitions
• Documenta (13), Kassel, 2012 • Across Boundaries. Focus on Lebanese Photography, curated by Tarek Nahas, Beirut Art Fair 2018 • In 2023, Akram Zaatari participated in BIENALSUR (Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo del Sur), presenting work in the exhibition Modos de desvanecimiento at the Sursock Museum in Beirut, Lebanon.
Identity and overview
Identity and overview
The following is established of the heading itself.
Publications
• The Vehicle. Picturing moments of transition in a modernizing society (Arab Image Foundation and Mind the Gap, 1999) • Mapping Sitting (Arab Image Foundation and Mind the Gap, 2002) • Hashem el Madani: Studio Practices (Arab Image Foundation, Mind the Gap and the Photographers' Gallery, 2004) • Hashem el Madani: Promenades (Arab Image Foundation and Mind the Gap, 2007) • Earth of Endless Secrets (Portikus and Beirut Art Center, 2010) • Against Photography (Kaph Books and MACBA, 2018) • Building Index. Rifat Chadirji, edited by Akram Zaatari and Mark Wasiuta (Arab Image Foundation and Kaph Books, 2018)
Primary material
Documents and archives
Institutional database
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q4701629: Akram Zaatari
Scholarly · Wikimedia Foundation
scholarly publication
- Zaatari, Akram, Benezit Dictionary of Artists, 2019
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2019
authority file
- Gemeinsame Normdatei 1023817578, Exhibition Akram Zaatari: Unfolding (2004 : Frankfurt am Main).
General reference · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Awards
• Grand Prize of the 17th International Contemporary Art Festival SESC_Videobrasil in São Paulo (2011)
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
Institutional database
Wikidata, structured authority record Q4701629: Akram ZaatariWikimedia Foundation
Institutional witnessscholarly publication
Zaatari, Akram, Benezit Dictionary of Artists, 2019Crossref registry
Institutional witnessauthority file
Gemeinsame Normdatei 1023817578, Exhibition Akram Zaatari: Unfolding (2004 : Frankfurt am Main).Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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