Through Arab Eyes

Mohammad Hannon and Etab Hreib
Al-Ghazali Centre, Earle Road (11th-13th July 2008)

Reviewed by Colin Serjent

This outstanding exhibition featuring photography by Mohammad Hannon (Palestine/Jordan) and watercolour paintings by Etab Hreib (Syria) was only open for two days, but it will have a longer duration and a wider audience when it moves to the Liverpool World Museum in September as part of the Al-Ghazali arts festival - dates to be announced.

There are three main components to Hannon's photography, who uses both SLR and digital cameras: abstract, Palestinian refugee camps and demonstrations, plus the ancient city of Petra.

The latter component was the most fascinating pictures of the sixty-three on display. They include close-up studies of rock formations and natural stones located in Petra - the Red Rose stone formation being the pick of them.

He also captured through his viewfinder the compelling beauty inside the caves at Al-Harrbah.

Anti-Israel demonstrations - taken between 2000 and 2006 - were vivdly shot by Hannon, including several black & white prints, in Washington, Minnesota and Chicago during his travels in the USA.

His documentary images of Palestinian refugee camps are equally models of photographic composition.

His website is www.hannonart.com

The most impressive painting by Hreib is 'My City Damascus', which was produced with the use of watercolours and ink on thick cardboard. It is abstract-like in depicting the city, and measures seven feet by six feet. Amazingly it took her only seventeen hours to complete.

Her other paintings are much smaller in scale, and were all created in the two weeks she spent in Liverpool. Again they are painted on thick cardboard, and include three smaller versions of My City Damascus. Her website is www.etabhreib.com

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