The Middle East Institute’s Arts and Culture Center is delighted to be participating in DC’s late night arts festival, ‘Art All Night,’ on Saturday, September 28, from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM.
The event will feature our most recent gallery exhibition, Louder Than Hearts: Women Photographers from the Arab World and Iran, as well as live musical performances by Laith AlAttar (oud & vocals) and Ali Bandeali (tabla) at 8:00 PM and 9:15 PM. Admission to this event is free.
The exhibition highlights the resilience, creativity, and humanity of women across the Arab World and Iran in the face of adversity. Through stunning photography and video, ten leading women photographers from Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen share powerful personal narratives that span a vast and diverse geographical region.
Louder Than Hearts is on view at the MEI Art Gallery, Monday to Friday, 10am-5pm, through January 10, 2025. Walk-ins are welcome, or you can schedule an appointment online. Admission is free and open to the public.
Participating artists: Rehaf Al Batniji, Tasneem Alsultan, Thana Faroq, Tanya Habjouqa, Shiva Khademi, Heba Khalifa, Safaa Khatib, Rania Matar, Newsha Tavakolian, Carmen Yahchouchi.The exhibition’s title is inspired by Lebanese poet Zeina Hashem Beck’s collection on love and loss.
Performers:
Laith 
AlAttar is an Arab-American composer, vocalist, and oud player who performs an assortment of traditional and contemporary Arabic, Middle Eastern, and global music. Laith specializes in developing cross-cultural collaborations that showcase the richness and diversity of Middle Eastern music and bring together different peoples, communities, and musical traditions through shared elements of melody and rhythm
Ali 
Bandeali is a percussionist specializing in Middle Eastern and orchestral instruments. Ali studied with the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism Classical Music Ensemble and was a member of the world champion Cavaliers Drum & Bugle Corps, Charlottesville Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and Waynesboro Symphony Orchestra