How has a globalised cultural economy affected the production of contemporary visual culture in North Africa and the Middle East?

Nada Sehnaoui, Fractions of Memory 2003, installation.

In the world we live in, where public spaces are meagre, artists create visual ideas where the onlooker becomes an active citizen. Installation artist Nada Sehnaoui deals with collective memory and identity, communicated in unused large public areas in Beirut, Lebanon (Fractions of Memory, Martyrs’ Square, 2003).

Alfred Tarazi, 1LL - “A Nation’s Inflation” series, 2011, digital collage mounted on aluminum dibond.

In a world we live in, where learning from the past matters, visual art helps us understand our history. Alfred Tarazi records the financial and human cost of the civil war in his digital collage Nation’s Inflation series.

Jean-Marc Nahas, Dara’a, 2011, mixed media installation.

In the world we live in, where we are increasingly desensitised by the violent scenes on TV, artists attempt to revive our affectability. In Da’raa, Jean-Marc Nahas portrays the forgotten women of the social revolutions sweeping across the Arab world.

Camille Zakharia, Albert Hajj - “Elusive Homelands” series, 1999-2000, photocollage on arches paper.

In the world we live in, where globalization is the new world order, Camille Zakharia examines the dynamics of identity, place, and belonging. He documents the lives of the many Lebanese immigrants in his Elusive Homelands series.

Ayah Bdeir, Elusive Electricity, 2011, neon, steel, motion sensor, cables, custom electronics. In collaboration with Hirumi Nanayakkara.

And in a world of advanced technology, Ayah Bdeir's neon light Elusive Electricity is a poignant commentary on the present conditions of living in Lebanon, with its frequent and unpredictable electric power cuts. Visual art remains the most authentic way to interpret realities and convey inconvenient truths.