Please join the Middle East Institute's (MEI) Arts & Culture Center for the opening night of A River Flows Downstream, an exhibition exploring the theme of water and rivers in the Middle East and the impact of floods and droughts on communities, landscapes, and ecosystems.
The evening will feature a talk with exhibition curator Roï Saade and participating artist Tamara Abdul Hadi on the vision for the exhibition, the works on display, and the role of the arts in the climate crisis conversation. Saade will lead a tour of the exhibition at 7:30pm.
A River Flows Downstream takes viewers on a journey along rivers ranging from Tunisia to Iran through the work of 8 participating artists who invite audiences to engage with the shifting ecological and cultural landscapes that they photograph, and the impact that water - in its scarcity or abundance - has had on communities and ecosystems. The works on display underscore the interdependence between the natural world and humanity and how crucial this relationship is to the future of both worlds.
The exhibition is on view M-F from 10:00am - 5:00pm through October 13, 2023, at the MEI Art Gallery. Walk-ins are welcome, or you can schedule an appointment online. The MEI Gallery is free and open to the public.
Participating artists: Hoda Afshar (Iran), Zied Ben Romdhane (Tunisia), Solmaz Daryani (Iran), Reem Falaknaz (UAE), Paul Gorra (Lebanon), Emin Özman (Turkey), Roï Saade &Tamara Abdul Hadi (Lebanon/Iraq).
About the curator
Roï Saade is an interdisciplinary artist interested in the intersectionality between graphic design, photography, and the arts. Saade is interested in finding and creating ways to resist systems of domination and inequality. As a photographer, Saade’s work attempts to investigate individual and collective identity through the documentation of social and personal encounters. Saade is currently a research associate at Access in the Making Research Lab at Concordia University, Montreal. His photography work has been exhibited in museums and galleries in Canada, Jordan, Lebanon and New York.
In Partnership With
