BredaPhoto Festival's SWANA Strand Reclaims Collective Memory Through Counter-Archives
The 2026 BredaPhoto Festival, under the theme "Our Songs Came Through," showcases artists from the Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA) region, with co-curation by Mohamed Somji, Ileana L. Selejan, and Astrid Hulsmann. Noor Abed, a Palestinian artist, presents her video installation "we walk in our sleep," which explores themes of land and memory. Syrian photographer Fouad Hallak's work, "A Mind in the Past, Eyes on Tomorrow," documents his return to Syria after the Assad regime. Fatima Joumaa's piece, "From My Mother's Novel," critiques media portrayals of war, while Huda Abdulmughni's "Nowruz Sayadeen" highlights ecological wisdom. Additionally, the festival features a posthumous exhibition by Majd Arandas, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on 01 November 2023. The event continues until 25 October.
Key facts
- BredaPhoto Festival 2026 is themed "Our Songs Came Through" and runs until 25 October.
- The SWANA strand is co-curated by Mohamed Somji, Ileana L. Selejan, and Astrid Hulsmann.
- Noor Abed presents the commissioned video installation "we walk in our sleep."
- Fouad Hallak, born in Syria, fled by migrant vessel to claim asylum in the Netherlands.
- Majd Arandas, born in Gaza in 1994, was killed in an Israeli airstrike near his home in Deir al-Balah on 01 November 2023.
- Fatima Joumaa developed the "after-image" concept for Lebanese magazine The Public Source.
- Huda Abdulmughni's "Nowruz Sayadeen" documents the fisherman's New Year on the Iranian island of Qeshm.
- The European visa system prevented Libyan artist Amera Elnaal from attending her own exhibition in the Netherlands.
Entities
Artists
- Noor Abed
- Fouad Hallak
- Fatima Joumaa
- Huda Abdulmughni
- Majd Arandas
- Amera Elnaal
- Mohamed Somji
- Ileana L. Selejan
- Astrid Hulsmann
- Layla
- Khaled
Institutions
- BredaPhoto Festival
- Gulf Photo Plus
- Slidefest
- The Public Source
- 1854 Photography
Locations
- Breda
- Netherlands
- Southwest Asia and North Africa
- SWANA
- Palestine
- Syria
- Damascus
- Lebanon
- South Lebanon
- Al-Janoub
- Beirut
- Dahiyeh
- Yemen
- Sudan
- Iran
- Qeshm
- Gaza
- Deir al-Balah
- Libya