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___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Through her photographs Charlotta Sparre shares her love and passion for the Middle East. Building on a technique of double exposed photographs, the combined pictures become both familiar and confusing. Under the Patronage of HRH Princess Majda Raad, 5% of sales from the exhibition will support the Al Hussein Society for the Habilitation and Rehabilitation of the Physically Challenged. Few places in the world have been and are as much of a crossroad as the Middle East. Home to the ancient high cultures around the Mediterranean, birthplace to the three main monotheistic religions, and an historical and cultural melting pot where, throughout history, people from different backgrounds have met, cohabited, fought wars, loved and lived. The nature offers extreme variation from lush river banks to the desert, from the lowest point in the world to the mountains, from the countryside to big cities. And the historical layers are intertwined, sometimes the layers building on each other, sometimes with distinct and unique characteristics. Not very long ago this was a “borderless” region, where the tribes, traders and travelers moved from one place to the other. They learned from each other and they influenced each other. The architecture, the clothes, the food, the traditions had their own local variations and specificities, but they also had common traces. Today’s borders make the journeys and the exchanges more complicated and sometimes impossible. Yet the two banks of the river Jordan remain connected through the common history and cultural heritage, and through families who still live on the two banks. This exhibition is Charlotta’s interpretation of the cultural similarities and differences on the East bank and on the West bank. Her own first visit to the East bank was 25 years ago, a few years later she crossed the river Jordan for the first of many times. Already as a child she was fascinated by the region’s history and culture, and above all the people and the societies and ever since she was a student, Charlotta has spent her life studying and working on issues related to the Middle East region. Charlotta sees cultural cooperation as a bridge to enhance relations between people in different parts of the world. Through cultural expressions the uniqueness and beauty of each culture and identity can be manifested. “With my images I attempt to capture the ‘soul’ and the essence of different places and people that fascinates me. With this portfolio I want to illustrate the rich and beautiful common historical and cultural heritage”, says the artist. Charlotta Sparre Born in Sweden, Charlotta Sparre's professional life has for the last almost 25 years focused on the Middle East and North Africa, including postings in Libya, Egypt and Jordan and extensive travelling all over the region. She currently lives in Amman where she serves as the Ambassador of Sweden to the Kingdom of Jordan, and will shortly move to Cairo to serve as Ambassador of Sweden to Egypt. Charlotta has an active and intense interest in political history, humanitarian issues and the contemporary challenges facing the region. Charlotta, armed with both an insatiable fascination with her surroundings and a limitless curiosity, manages to explore the dynamics of life wherever she resides.
Previous Exhibitions
DODI TABBAA - 'THE PIXEL LIGHTBOX SOCIETY'
MOHAMMED AL SHAMMAREY
- 'PAPER BOATS
'
SINA ATA
- 'MAMNOO3
FORBIDDEN
'
MIKE V. DERDERIAN
- 'CIRQUE DU HABALEENO
'
GHASSAN GHAIB WITH SCULPTURES BY AHMED AL BAHRANI
- 'HANINE (NOSTALGIA)
' MOHAMMED AL SHAMMAREY - 'WASAT AL BALAD / DOWNTOWN' AMMAR KHAMMASH - 'FOSSILS OF TIME & LIGHT' KARIN MAYER & AHMED AL KHALIDI - 'URBAN EXCHANGE' GHADEER SAEED - 'MEMORIES OF LOVE & WAR' SALEH ABU SHINDI - 'VOCABULARY OF LINES AND COLOUR' MONA SAUDI - 'SONG FOR THE EQUINOX' BADER MAHASNEH - 'SCULPTING THE WATER' TARIQ DAJANI - 'ABOVE WADI RUM' HAKIM JAMAIN - '30 DAYS IN LUXOR' ABORIGINAL ART - ANCIENT ABSTRACTIONS
3 DIMENSIONS, 3 JORDANIAN
ARTISTS
FLOODED LONDON – FIVE IMAGES OF
THE FUTURE ASIL Photographs of Arabian Horses by Tariq Dajani at Zara Centre Gallery |
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