Arab Image Foundation

We are continuing our work on the 0307ra - Ramazan Collection. The collection has entered the processing phase, which involves examining each item individually. Each piece is carefully cleaned, catalogued, and stored. Glass plates are typically placed in a standard four-flap enclosure, while broken glass plates are housed in the special enclosure that the preservation team developed during our workshop with Fernanda Valverde. We anticipate that it will take two years to process all 314 boxes of an estimated 12,000 glass plate negatives. يستمرّ العمل في المؤسسة على مجموعة رمزان - ٠٣٠٧ را. بدأ فريق الحفظ والأرشفة الآن العمل على تنظيف، فهرسة، وتوضيب كل لوح زجاجي على حدى. ثم ّ يتمّ حفظه اما في اغلفة رباعية الجوانب كما تجري العادة عند حفظ الالواح الزجاجية، وإما في المجسم الذي تم ابتكاره خصيصًا من قبل الفريق خلال ورشة العمل مع فيرناندا فالفيرديه، للحفاظ على الالواح المتكسرة. من المتوقع أن تستغرق هذه العملية حوالي السنتين لكي نتمكن من معالجة جميع الثلاثمئة واثني عشرة صندوق اي ما يقارب ال١٢ الف لوح زجاجي.

Last week we concluded our two week training on the preservation and housing of broken and damaged glass plate negatives from the Ramazan Collection with photography conservator Fernanda Valverde. Guided by Fernanda, AIF archivists Rawan Mazeh @rawanmazeh and Jana Khoury @jana.khoury , joined by Lina Khalid @lina.khalidsr of @darkroomamman , cleaned the emulsion side of the glass plate negatives, removed any residual paper from their surface, and developed an innovative housing solution for the broken glass plates that ensures their capacity to be digitised. On the final day of the training, Fernanda and the preservation team presented the outcomes of the workshop to the Lebanese Library Association, Modern Heritage Observatory (MoHO) and representatives from different universities in Lebanon. Fernanda also delivered a talk on the history of glass plate negatives. The preservation team will continue to work on the Ramazan Collection. This project is supported by the Gerda Henkel Foundation.

After long anticipation, the Ramazan Collection has arrived to the Arab Image Foundation. The collection consists of an estimated 12,000 glass plate negatives of studio portraiture spanning the 1940s to the 1970s by Studio Ramazan. Located in Kirkuk, the studio was run by Kurdish photographer Ramazan Zamdan and withstood multiple waves of violence. Over the next two weeks, we will be working closely on the collection with Fernanda Valverde who is a photograph conservator, specialized in negatives, with extensive experience in institutions in Mexico and the US and has publications in both countries. During her time with us, she will offer a seminar and conduct a training for the AIF team on the conservation of glass plates. Each glass plate negative is housed in its own paper enclosure with the photographer’s original reference numbers. Every element of this collection stands as a testament to communities and individuals that oppressive forces have tried to erase. Captured here are AIF archivists Rawan Mazeh and Jana Khoury surveying the collection before commencing the preservation process. Video credit: Christopher Baaklini This project is supported by the Gerda Henkel Foundation. استلمنا مؤخرًا في المؤسسة العربية للصورة مجموعة رمزان التي كنّا نترقّب وصولها منذ مدّة. تضمّ المجموعة التي ائتُمِنّا عليها أكثر من ١٢٠٠٠ لوحٍ زجاجي لبورتريهات صُوّرت بين أربعينيات وسبعينيات القرن الماضي في استوديو رمزان. استوديو المصوّر الكردي رمزان زمدان، الموجود في مدينة كركوك، نجا من هجماتٍ متعددة تعرّض لها عبر السنوات. على مدى الأسبوعين المقبلين، نعمل يوميًا على هذه المجموعة مع فيرناندا فالفيرديه، المختصّة في حفظ وترميم الصور السالبة، وهي صاحبة خبرة طويلة في مؤسّسات في المكسيك والولايات المتحدة الأميركية، وقد نُشرت لها عدّة أعمال في كلا البلدين. خلال فترة إقامتها، ستقود تدريبًا لفريق عمل المؤسّسة حول حفظ الألواح الزجاجية. كل لوحٍ زجاجيّ تمّت حمايته بأغلفةٍ تتضمن الأرقام المرجعية الأصلية للمصوّر. كلّ جزء من هذه المجموعة هو شاهدٌ على مجتمعاتٍ وأفراد حاولت قوى قمعية طمس وجودهم وذكراهم. في هذه اللقطات، تعمل روان مازح وجنى خوري، فريق عمل الأرشفة في المؤسسة، على إجراء تقييم للمجموعة قبل البدء بعملية الحفظ. فيديو: كريستوفر بعقليني. هذا المشروع بدعم من مؤسّسة جيردا هنكل.

Tomorrow, May 15, we commemorate the 1948 Nakba. In April 1948, six weeks before the end of the British Mandate over Palestine, Zionist leadership put into action Plan Dalet in order to secure control over the territories “allocated” to the future Israeli state, expand beyond them, and ethnically cleanse the land of the indigenous Palestinian population. What followed was a series of military operations and a countrywide psychological campaign aimed at mongering fear and expelling Palestinians into exile. Of these so-called operations was the Deir Yassin Massacre, whose aftermath saw a mass exodus of Palestinians. By land and sea, they fled to Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt. In mid-April, Tiberias was the first city to fall into the hands of Zionist militias. Then, Haifa. By the end of 1948, residents of an estimated 400 Palestinian villages had been forcibly displaced. They remain prohibited from returning to their homes, their land to this day. On May 14, 1948, the British High Commissioner departed Jerusalem. The state of Israel materialised and was quickly recognised by U.S. President Harry Truman. The seeds of the Israeli monster were sewn, irrigated with the blood of Palestinians. And, religious and historical fallacies propagated. 0059ne00017. Tiberias. Unidentified photographer. 1900 - 1910. Tiberias, Palestine. Gelatin silver negative on glass. 8.2 × 10.7 cm. 0059ne - Rami al Nemr Collection. Courtesy of the Arab Image Foundation. To read more about this, subscribe to AIF newsletter by clicking the link in our bio. In the May edition of the Arab Image Foundation's newsletter, we share a historical reflection on two significant dates in the political history of our region: the 1948 Nakba, commemorated on May 15, and the Liberation of South Lebanon, commemorated on May 25.

Wishing all workers a restful Labour Day. In the face of political injustice and failing institutions, workers continue to bear the brunt of oppressive economic policies and struggle to secure their most basic needs. May all workers be met with dignity, protection, and fair compensation for their labour. The Common Library at AIF is closed tomorrow. نتمنى لكم يوم عيد عمالٍ مفعمًا بالراحة. يبقى العمال، المتضررون الأوائل من السياسات الاقتصادية القمعية، وما ينتج عنها من لاعدالة سياسية وانهيار مؤسساتي؛ هم حتى اليوم لا يزالوا يقاتلون للحصول على أبسط حقوقهم. نأمل أن تُكرّس الكرامة، الحماية، والمردود العادل، كمبادئ أساسية في كافة بيئات العمل. المكتبة المشتركة مغلقة غدًا الجمعة. 0195na00011. Portrait of workers and Bezbina residents, including Gerges Abdallah Hazim and Spiridon Hazim, commemorating the completion of Bezbina Road. Unidentified photographer. 1923. Bezbina, Akkar (governorate), Lebanon. Gelatin silver developing-out paper print. 19.6 x 29.8cm. 0195na - Paul Nassar Collection. Courtesy of the Arab Image Foundation.

The 24th of April marks 111 years since the Armenian Genocide, perpetrated by the Ottomans. We share with you a photograph of the Antoura Saint Joseph School. From 1915 to 1918, Ottoman forces turned the school into an orphanage for Armenian children. Ottoman forces erected orphanages across the region in order to “Turkify” Armenian children. These children were torn away from their families and forced to change their name, their language, and their religion. Many children died due to starvation, disease, and abuse. At the end of WWI, following the Ottoman defeat, the Antoura orphanage was taken over by the Near East Foundation. Unable to repatriate the children due to Turkish attacks, the Near East Foundation transferred the children to an orphanage in Jbeil, Lebanon. During renovations of the Antoura Convent in 1993, a mass grave of the remains of an estimated 300 children was found. A memorial was subsequently built at the site to preserve their memory. The story of this orphanage reflects a broader dimension of the Armenian Genocide: beyond corporeal killings, Ottoman forces aimed to erase Armenians culturally, through the fragmentation of families and so-called re-education. 0087ch-al001-045,00101. View of the Antoura Saint Joseph School clocktower. Unidentified photographer. 1920-1930. Aintoura, Lebanon. Gelatin silver printing-ort paper print, mounted on album page. 9x12cm. 0087ch - Simone Chemali Collection. Courtesy of the Arab Image Foundation.

Today, we revisit an excerpt from a text we wrote last September. While we witnessed the systematic targeting of journalists and photojournalists in Gaza, we asked: Can the camera mourn? “The camera that was once shielded is now a target to the zionist entity. In the ruins of homes, pressed against a hospital wall, they frame what remains. Their photographs do not promise redemption. They are the last will of a people that insists on visibility in a world that has already decided to look away. […] Perhaps the answer is that the camera mourns through interruption. Each absent photographer leaves a silence in the visual archive, a frame that cannot be taken. What remains is the unfinished gesture, the photo we will never see, the testimony cut short.” The criminal targeting of journalists by the zionist entity hasn’t stopped. Since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on Lebanon 2023, we have lost: Issam Abdallah, Farah Omar, Rabih Al Maamari, Hussein Aqeel, Hadi Al-Sayyed, Kamel Karaki, Safaa Ahmad, Hussein Safa, Mohammad Ghadboun, Ali Alhadi Yassine, Mohammad Bitar, Ghassan Najjar, Mohammed Rida, Wissam Qassim, Ali Hassan Ashour, Susanne Khalil, Ghada Dayekh, Mohamad Sherri, Hussein Hammoud, Fatima Ftouni, Mohammed Ftouni, Ali Shuaib, Amal Khalil and countless others who bore witness and reported on the atrocities committed. On Wednesday, April 22, 2026, an Israeli airstrike targeted the car of journalists Amal Khalil and Zainab Faraj while they were reporting from the southern village of Al-Tiri. When they fled to take refuge in a nearby house, the belligerent israeli occupation forces struck again targeting the house. After rescuing Zainab, the paramedics and Lebanese Army were forbidden from entering the area under threat of fire to retrieve Amal. She remained under the rubble of the house for four hours. They were later permitted to enter and recover her body late last night. ***** 0304ta-co061-006. View of hunters standing in a grass field photographed by Roland Sidawy. 1955-1970. Bint Jbeil, Lebanon. Gelatin silver negative on cellulose acetate film base. 6.5x6.2cm. 0304ta - Samir Tabet Collection. Courtesy of the Arab Image Foundation.

The screening of Buffer Zone and October Means Olives, scheduled for this Thursday, February 26, has been postponed to a later date. Please keep an eye on our social media platforms to stay informed about the new dates. لقد تمّ تأجيل عرض منطقة عازلة وتشرين الأول أي الزيتون الذي كان مخططًا لهذا الخميس ٢٦ شباط. ترقبوا صفحاتنا على وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي لمعرفة المواعيد الجديدة.

Join us this Thursday February 26, at 7:30PM at the Shared Auditorium, for a screening of: October Means Olives 2023, 5' and Buffer Zone 2025, 18' by Farrah Berrou. The screening is followed by a discussion with Rayyane Tabet. Free entrance. First come first seated. We look forward to seeing you there! انضموا إلينا هذا الخميس ٢٦ شباط، في القاعة المشتركة لحضور: تشرين الأول، أي الزيتون ٢٠٢٣، ٥ د. و منطقة عازلة ٢٠٢٥، ١٨ د. للمخرجة فرح برّو يلي العروض حوار مع ريان تابت. الدخول مجاني. تأكدوا من الوصول مبكرًا لحجز مقاعدكم. نتطلّع لرؤيتكم!

𝗹𝗶𝗾𝗮’𝗮 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗵𝗿𝗶 𝟵 | 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝘂𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗭𝗼𝗻𝗲 Thursday, February 26 at 7:30PM in the Shared Auditorium at AIF This month’s liqa’a shahri features a screening of October Means Olive and Buffer Zone by Farrah Berrou, followed by a discussion with visual artist Rayyane Tabet. October Means Olives 2023, 5’ Buffer Zone 2025, 18’ About Buffer Zone: In this short film, part documentary, part memoir, Farrah Berrou takes us to her ancestral border village of Kfarkila in Southern Lebanon for the first time since October 8, 2023, the day Lebanon became a support front to Gaza and Palestine in the aftermath of October 7. About Farrah Berrou: Farrah Berrou is a Lebanese-American writer and artist based in Beirut. Her work explores themes of identity as they appear in everyday minutiae, personal archives, and memory. She currently writes Aanab News, a newsletter on Lebanese culture. About Rayyane Tabet: Rayyane Tabet is a visual artist living and working in Beirut.He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from Cooper Union, New York, and an MFA from the University of California, San Diego. Tabet’s work explores the relationship between history and the built environment. His multifaceted installations often reconfigure perceptions of physical and temporal distance. Free entrance. First come first seated. We look forward to seeing you there!

For twenty years, Jia Zhangke has been scrutinizing the radical transformations of his country, building a fictional work that borders on documentary. In this film, the Chinese filmmaker brings together two lonely characters, both immersed in a search for their lost loved ones. Their quests unfold the grandiose landscape of the Three Gorges, then undergoing the construction of a gigantic dam. A project already envisioned by Mao, the Three Gorges Dam embodies the mad pursuit of human excess, which separates and uproots individuals, who appear to be sacrificed on the altar of an inexorable rush forward...