Memory For Forgetfulness

Introducing the AFAC’s Arab Documentary Photography Program (ADPP) with installations by Omar Imam, Reem Falaknaz, Natalie Naccache and Samar Hazboun.

Amidst major societal transformations, the bulk of visual documentation in the Arab region is funneled through mass media outlets. There is little opportunity for local documentary photographers to produce creative long-form stories. The Arab Documentary Photography Program (ADPP) was launched in 2014 by The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC), the Prince Claus Fund (PCF), and Magnum Foundation (MF) as an intensive three-year initiative to stimulate the production and distribution of compelling and unconventional documentary work.

Each year, a jurors’ committee comprised of Arab and international experts selects a cohort of grantees to complete proposed projects with financial support and individual mentorship from expert practitioners. The first ADPP grantees are 9 regional photographers representing 8 countries across the Middle East. Together, their projects put forth innovative, personal and surprising explorations of social issues relevant to the Arab world. Their narratives explore the displacement of Syrian refugees, violence against women, tenuous labor conditions, vanishing landscapes and invisible subcultures, offering an in-depth alternative to mainstream journalistic coverage.