54 T Qatar: The New York Times Style Magazine

Between Black and White

BY SINDHU NAIR

Two Qatari artists are showing at one of the worlds five most important

photography festivals, and they are taking with them their own unique

representation of the country.

Framed

KHALIFA AL OBAIDLY chose to give life to those whom we choose not to see. They need to be acknowledged, says Al Obaidly of his muse, the faceless migrant and domestic workers who toil hard at projects that try to put Qatar on a par with developed countries. He drew attention to these unseen yet omnipresent workers by photographing them and then representing them with a barcode symbol, an impersonal number used for identifying and cataloging materials. Each of the individuals portrayed could tell us a story of his/her life, points of view and emotions, yet we do not know their names; we do not care, says Al Obaidly. We might show our generosity by giving them money, but do we ever care to ask about them, where they are from, their names, and their families?

Al Obaidly is one of Qatars oldest photographers and is someone who has seen change at close quarters. In some instances, like through the Qatar Now Tagged exhibition (the workers portraits) at Virginia Commonwealth University Qatar in 2010, he has also initiated change by focusing on one of the most pressing human rights issues of the Arab world. There is change now, he says. We do think of the workers now. Entertainment opportunities are provided at camps, and their welfare is a priority now. Al Obaidly is a teacher at the Qatar Photographic Society, but that is just one of the roles he fits into; he is involved in numerous projects, each more interesting than the last. He was part of the Qatar-UK project of the Qatar Museums Authority, and his project was to curate the memories of Qataris and other Arabs living at the Edgware Road, London.

Edgware Road is rich in ethnic culture and is in a very central area of London. The area is known for its distinctive and diverse communities from across the Middle East and Africa, he says. I lived here while I was working with the National Council for Culture, Arts and Heritage (now known as the Qatar Museums Authority), and hence the project was like reliving my life, too. The project is in the process of being cataloged as narratives, which will finally be published.

The next stop for Al Obaidly is Houston, Texas, where he will be exhibiting his work at the 15th edition of the International Biennial FotoFest, View From Inside, which has brought 45 leading contemporary Arab artists for its principal exhibitions in the 2014 Biennial. These presentations of contemporary photos and media-related art from the Middle East and North Africa are said to be

LIFE IN QATAR From top: Khalifa

Al Obaidly becomes his own

muse in the Tagged series;

desert details by Sheikh Khaled Al

Thani.

Lookout Qatar

55March - April 2014

the largest program of its kind in the US in more than a decade.Karin Adrian von Roques, the curator of the Biennial, explains

why the focus of an American-born exhibition is on Arab artists. First of all, when Wendy Watriss and Fred Baldwin founded FotoFest International in 1983, a non-profit photographic arts and education organization based in Houston, their idea was to promote international awareness of museum-quality, photo-based art from around the world, says von Roques. Two years ago the Biennial was dedicated to contemporary Russian photography. Von Roques is an art historian specializing in contemporary Arab art, and when she met with the founders of FotoFest, they decided to focus on Arab art, especially because the art scene of the Arab countries was almost unknown in the West and there were too many stereotypes and clichs existing about Arabs and Islam.

On the direction taken in curating the selections, von Roques says, We did not want to give the Biennial an allover theme. First of all we selected strong works. We wanted a broad and varied selection of contemporary Arab photography, video and mixed media art, which give insights into important aspects of Arab thought and life.

These works and perspectives closely portray important social and cultural events in the Arab countries.

Each work presented in the Biennial stands for itself but stands in its context with the others, contributing to our understanding of the current situation in the art scene of the Arab lands, says von Roques. It is a scene shaped by changes taken place over the past years and, especially most recently, changes that the artists have studied and formulated in their works.

Von Roques has travelled to Doha and met many artists, but for the Biennial she has chosen two Qatari artists, Sheikh Khaled Al Thani and Khalifa Al Obaidly, whose works are as different as life and death, quite literally. Al Thani knows the desert and loves it, and hence his muse is always the mysterious landscape of the desert.The desert is an important part of Qatar and has deeply influenced the life of the Qataris over centuries. It formed their character. Proud, strong people. And the desert with its colors influenced the aesthetic criteria, even the original architecture, says von Roques. And from Al Obaidlys work she has chosen his series Tagged People which will surely pave the way for discussion with the subject it has chosen to portray.

Contemplating and comparing the work of artists from across the globe, von Roques feels that the only difference in the work coming from different continents is the topics the artists selected. Each artist has been affected by the country where he was brought up, by his language, his culture and tradition, by his religion, by the circumstances of his life, she says.

The 15th edition of the International Biennial FotoFest will be showing from March 15 till April 27 in Houston.

NOT WITHOUT COLORS Clockwise from left: A photograph by Khaled Al Thani; Karen von Roques promotes Arab art by giving an insight into the work of selected artists from the region; another image by Al Thani; from Al Obaidly's Tagged series.

The desert is an important part of Qatar and has deeply influenced the life of the Qataris over centuries, says von

Roques. It formed their character. Proud, strong people. And the desert with its colors influenced the aesthetic criteria, even

the original architecture.

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