Whose Gaze Is It Anyway?, ICA

In conjunction with the Safar Film Festival, ICA are hosting an enthralling show of Arab pop culture memorabilia alongside contemporary artworks in a show curated by Omar Kholeif (Whitechapel Gallery)

Safar Film Festival

Safar returns this September for a second year as the only film festival devoted to popular Arab cinema in the UK. The week long programme, featuring classic movies alongside recent releases, is hosted by the ICA in conjunction with the Arab British Centre.

Whose Gaze is it Anyway?

If you simply can't get enough Arab pop culture, Whose Gaze is it Anyway? in the Fox Reading Room, will feature gems from the vast archive of Abboudi Bou Jaoudeh, the Arab film fanatic and memorabilia collector. It was Jaoudeh’s vast stockpile that inspired curator Omar Kholeif to bring together these rare documents of a vibrant film culture with the work of contemporary artists.

The artworks

Artists include Sophia Al-Maria, whose film Beretta, a rape-revenge thriller (though it is yet to be made) will be presented in the form of sketchbooks and a newly commissioned poster. Also don't miss the chance to see short films Domestic Tourism II by Maha Maamoun, and Disco by Raed Yassin, which in different ways address the complex relationships between traditional Arab culture, and the emergent pop culture. There will also be a selection of historic publications dating from the 1930s to now from Bou Jaoudeh's archive curated by Amsterdam-based artist Mounira Al-Solh.