Li-alla Nansá : suwar li-`ailat Imaratiyah 1950–1999 : Lest we forget : Emirati Family Photographs 1950–1999
Abu Dhabi: Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation, 2015. First edition. Box. Square Quarto (10 x 10"). 435pp. Original white wraps with black lettering on cover and white cloth label of spine, housed in black paper-covered box with black lettering in white cloth label in debossed frame. Black cloth lever. Black endpapers. Linoleum cut print frontispiece by Ayah Dhafer Mohammed Al Heera. Introduction by Michele Bambling. Exquisite publication illustrated with color photographs throughout. Some intermittent parchment leaves with printed text and photographs; some heavy white intermittent pages with circular cutouts to focus on details of underlying photographs. Contains credits of contributors. Text in Arabic and English. Light wear along edges of box top, and light rubbing of white wraps. Box in very good, book in near fine to fine condition.
The book, Lest We Forget: Emirati Family Photographs 1950-1999, explores the experiences of Emirati people during the early decades of nation building. Daily life in this rapidly evolving landscape is captured through personal stories and family photographs. These differ from the widely known photographs taken by the government, oil companies, missionaries and travelers. They were not intended to document media events or official protocol; instead these candid images captured private, lasting memories. This is the first publication of such important vernacular material. A group of eight Emirati female students of Zayed University began this project four years ago, with nearly fifty students gradually contributing their family family photographs and oral histories to a collaboratively designed and authored book. Their professor, Dr. Michele Bambling, and renowned photographer Susan Meiselas guided the students' creative approach to exploring their family photographs. Documented by their own cameras and told through their own memories, the book offers an Emirati perspective on life in their nation during the second half of the twentieth century.
"This book and its accompanying exhibition and archive, was conceived as an extended research project I conducted with my students of curatorial practices at Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, over a three-year period, beginning in 2010. Building on that foundation, I helped establish 'Lest We Forget' as a creative archival initiative under the auspices of the Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation. To date, more than one hundred Emirati female university students, interns and volunteers have since contributed their photographs, stories, memories, artistic talent and time to create the integral book, exhibition and archive collaboratively." (Accession No: OCLC: 949740926 / five holdings worldwide). vg to fine. Item #47636
ISBN: 9789948205913
Price: $950.00