Cover: Dissonant Archives: Contemporary Visual Culture and Contested Narratives in the Middle East, 2015. Edited by Anthony Downey.

Ibraaz and the Kamel Lazaar Foundation are pleased to celebrate the launch of Dissonant Archives: Contemporary Visual Culture and Contested Narratives in the Middle East, the second volume in their co-produced Contemporary Visual Culture in the Middle East series.

Dissonant Archives is the first book to consider the various ways in which contemporary artists from North Africa and the Middle East utilize and disrupt the function of the archive and, in so doing, highlight a systemic and perhaps irrevocable crisis in institutional and state-ordained archiving across the region.

The book was launched with two formal events and a series of panel discussions chaired by the book's editor Anthony Downey.

5 September, 16.00

Panel discussion and Ibraaz book launch at SALT Galata, Istanbul

This panel included contributions from Vahap Avşar, Burak Arikan, Meriç Algün Ringborg and Başak Şenova.

This event was the second iteration of the Robinson Crusoe 389 and SALT collaboration 'Becoming a Book'.

Venue: SALT Galata, Workshop II-III

For more details of venue, see here: saltonline.org.

10 September, 18.30

Panel discussion and Ibraaz book launch at Rivington Place, London

The panel included contributions from John Akomfrah, Nick Denes, Laura Cugusi, Guy Mannes-Abbott and Zineb Sedira, and was introduced by Mark Sealy (MBE), Director of Autograph ABP.

Venue: Rivington Place, Main Gallery

For more details of venue, see here: rivingtonplace.org.

Featuring writing, interviews and original artwork by internationally renowned academics, curators, activists, filmmakers and artists, including Emily Jacir, Walid Raad, Jananne Al-Ani, Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme, Mariam Ghani, Zineb Sedira, and Akram Zaatari, Dissonant Archives includes contributions from Lawrence Abu Hamdan, John Akomfrah, Meriç Algün Ringborg, Héla Ammar, Burak Arıkan, Ariella Azoulay, Vahap Avşar, Sussan Babaie, Alessandro Balteo Yazbeck, Timothy P.A Cooper, Joshua Craze, Laura Cugusi, Ania Dabrowska, Nick Denes, Chad Elias, Media Farzin, Gulf Labor, Tom Holert, Adelita Husni-Bey, Maryam Jafri, Guy Mannes-Abbott, Amina Menia, Shaheen Merali, Naeem Mohaiemen, Mariam Motamedi Fraser, Pad.ma, Lucie Ryzova, Lucien Samaha, Rona Sela and Laila Shereen Sakr (VJ Um Amel).

For more information on the Visual Culture in the Middle East series, visit the Kamel Lazaar Foundation.

Dissonant Archives: Contemporary Visual Culture and Contested Narratives in the Middle East is available to purchase from Amazon.