Breathing Walls > NY-Based #Lebanese Photographer's Documentation of Walls in #Egypt Street @PavilionDubai #Dubai (16 May – 31 August)

The Pavilion Downtown Dubai presents a solo exhibition by New York based Lebanese photographer, Rhea Karam. ‘Breathing Walls’ explores and records transient testimonies of life through an ongoing photographic documentation of walls in Egypt, and other countries in the region currently experiencing unrest. The series exposes often overlooked details and visually archives the fragility felt in the region today.

Karam interprets walls as windows to the conflicts engulfing their surroundings that, in times of strife, offer a means of self-expression and communication for members of social and religious communities. Walls have proven themselves an effective tool in establishing dialogue between suppressed voices and opinions by offering an endless canvas for the oppressed. They become storytellers, absorbing and reflecting their surroundings, consequently becoming silent witnesses to our lives.

A common perception upon viewing Karam’s work is the clear intention to remove people from these heavily populated cities in order to give a voice to the echoing messages and human traces left behind, void of all physical presence. Today, urban landscape has made walls part of our natural habitat, making them a strong presence in our everyday existence. They define where we walk, the directions we take, the spaces we choose; they offer us shelter and privacy. However, walls lead a double life, holding our most intimate secrets on the inside while being exposed to the world on the outside. They are life: they breathe, they interact, and they evolve.

The project began in Lebanon, the artist’s country of origin, whereby Karam deemed it necessary to document these transient testimonies of life to record this significant period in time. Following the rising of the Arab spring, the artist’s documentation spread to other countries of unrest where the walls played a crucial part in communication and expression. Karam’s intention is to continue to photograph and archive the constantly appearing and disappearing wallscapes of Egypt and other countries in the region.

ABOUT RHEA KARAM Rhea Karam is a New York based photographer who was born in Beirut in 1982 and grew up in France. She graduated from the International Center of Photography in New York where she received a director’s scholarship. Focusing on quiet moments and easily overlooked details, Karam's work focuses on capturing her surrounding environment whether domestic or urban. She has exhibited extensively both internationally and in the Middle East in both solo and group shows. She has won awards including Best of Show at Colorado Photographic Arts Centre juried exhibition. The Silver Eye Commendation Award and was awarded top 50 photographers in Black book. She is currently working on several projects in the Middle East and the United States.