Charlotte Cotton

Doha Fashion Fridays Doha Fashion Fridays is a unique collaborative project, initiated in 2017 by artists Khalid Albaih and Aparna Jayakumar, in which migrant workers living in Qatar are photographed and interviewed on Fridays, their day of rest.

Doha Fashion Fridays Using fashion as a lens and Instagram as its public platform, the project’s hundreds of images and interviews tell narratives about the diverse migrant population, who have come to Qatar with dreams and aspirations.

Doha Fashion Fridays With the classic streetstyle photography conventions of the straight-up portrait, and multiple close-up shots of the details and specificities of each subject’s personal style, Aparna Jayakumar and new collaborator on this project, photographer and filmmaker Shaima Al-Tamimi, create a rich visual record of the beautiful individuality within often-under-represented communities in Qatar.

Doha Fashion Fridays This exhibition is the start of a working relationship between Tasweer and Doha Fashion Fridays that will build into the launch of an internationally available Doha Fashion Fridays book at Tasweer’s next biennial programme in 2025. During Tasweer 2023, there are many opportunities for local photographers to meet with the Doha Fashion Fridays and Tasweer teams to find out about how to participate in the expansive next phase of this remarkable project.

Doha Fashion Fridays The Doha Fashion Fridays exhibition was conceived as a celebration of the widespread impact of a photographic project platformed on social media that drew attention to an under-represented and large community in contemporary Qatar. It translates the project into cultural space and discourse, and marks the beginning of the next phase of the project’s life.

Doha Fashion Fridays The concept and design translation of Doha Fashion Fridays into an unforgettable installation experience is a collaboration between Charlotte Cotton and Harsh Patel with Arabic language design by Sara Alafifi. Support for the spatial design of the exhibition is thanks to Al Jazi Al-Thani, head of exhibition design at Qatar Museums and her team, and Tasweer’s head of exhibitions, Sinem Yoruk.

Doha Fashion Fridays

Doha Fashion Fridays

A Chance To Breathe A Chance To Breathe presents the remarkable photographs of Omal Khair, Dil Kayas and Azimul Hasson, who have been documenting their lives and those in their Rohingya refugee community living in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh since 2018.

A Chance To Breathe By telling visual stories of life, resilience and hope, their photographs help reframe the prevailing narratives of violence, death and victimhood that often describe Rohingya refugees’ experiences.

A Chance To Breathe In 2018, Doha Debates teamed up with Fortify Rights to equip and support these three talented photographers and give the world an inside look at the lives within the world’s largest refugee camp.

A Chance To Breathe This exhibition was conceived to be a 3-person photography exhibition hosted by a major cultural venue in Doha, Qatar – a direct call to viewers to recognize Omal Khair, Dil Kayas and Azimul Hasson true chroniclers of the lived experiences of Rohingya people within this traumatic and violent period of Rohingya and Mayanmar’s history.

A Chance To Breathe Omal Khair dreamed of becoming a professional photographer – a forbidden occupation in her indigenous homeland. Azimul Hasson used to study and play football back at home, and he still dreams of pursuing higher education in photography. Dil Kayas is a mother of three. Like Omal, she harbored a passion for photography, but the Myanmar government denied her the right to pursue it.

A Chance To Breathe Omal Khair, Dil Kayas, and Azimul Hasson are talented, creative and hard-working and this exhibition celebrates their vital and ongoing storytelling. The photographers kindly ask for your support by following them on Instagram and continuing to see the stories of Rohingya lives. @omalkha, @azimulhass, @dilkayas.

A Chance To Breathe The A Chance To Breathe exhibition is a partnership with Doha Debates, Fortify Rights and Tasweer Photo Festival Qatar. It was created and curated by Charlotte Cotton in collaboration with Harsh Patel who developed the exhibition wordmark and designed exhibition content, and Arabic language graphic designer Sara Alafifi. Support for the spatial design of the exhibition is thanks to Al Jazi Al-Thani, head of exhibition design at Qatar Museums and her team, and Tasweer’s head of exhibitions, Sinem Yoruk.

A Chance To Breathe

I Am The Traveler And Also The Road This exhibition is a journey that interconnects the visions of eleven remarkable photographers working in the WANA region today. I Am The Traveler And Also The Road honors the photographic practices of Fatema bint Ahmad Al-Doh, Hayat Al-Sharif, Shaima Al-Tamimi, Samar Sayed Baiomy, Salih Basheer, Mohammed Elshamy, Reem Falaknaz, Rula Halawani, Mona Hassan, Fethi Sahraoui, and Abdo Shanan.

I Am The Traveler And Also The Road (Rula Halawani, Samar Sayed Baiomy) In 2021 and 2022, each of the photographers participating in I Am The Traveler And Also The Road was a recipient of Tasweer’s annual grant award, created to enable the development or completion of photographic projects by photographers living in the WANA region.

I Am The Traveler And Also The Road (Rula Halawani) With a panel of photography experts jurying this grant programme, and in collaboration with the Saoud Bin Mohammed Al-Thani Foundation, Tasweer is already in its third year of annually supporting and celebrating local and regional photographers.

I Am The Traveler And Also The Road (Reem Falaknaz, Salih Basheer) Through this award, Tasweer manifests its core aim of participating meaningfully in the forward momentum of exceptional photographers who are creating articulate stories from the region.

I Am The Traveler And Also The Road (Mona Hassan, Abdo Shanan, Reem Falaknaz) I Am The Traveler And Also The Road is intentionally curated to bring together both fully-completed and work-in-progress projects that carry the energy that underlies the deepest and most enduring photographic accounts of human situations and encounters.

I Am The Traveler And Also The Road (Samar Sayed Baiomy, Mona Hassan, Abdo Shanan, Reem Falaknaz) The exhibition installation that speaks to active, individual and unfolding directions of photography that are being created by photographers here in Qatar and in the WANA region today.

I Am The Traveler And Also The Road (Mohammed Elshamy, Abdo Shanan, Hayat Al-Sharif, Reem Falaknaz) The photographic projects drawn together in this exhibition share the present-day urgency of traveling into collective and individual lived experiences, and of marking and mapping unique and extraordinary human stories.

I Am The Traveler And Also The Road (Abdo Shanan) The works on display were instigated art directed by Charlotte Cotton, co-curated with Sheikha Maryam Hassan Al-Thani, produced to exceptional standards by Sinem Yoruk, all in dialogue with the contributing artists. The exhibition wordmark was designed by Harsh Patel supported by Arab language graphic designer Sara Alafifi. Spatial and external graphic design are by Al Jazi Al-Thani, head of exhibition design at Qatar Museums.

I Am The Traveler And Also The Road (Hayat Al-Sharif, Fatema bint Ahmad Al-Doh)

I Am The Traveler And Also The Road (Fethi Sahraoui)

I Am The Traveler And Also The Road

Hadeer Omar: And Thereafter Hadeer Omar is an Egyptian new media artist currently residing, teaching and practicing her art in Doha. Omar has been commissioned to produce a contemporary response to the Al Koot Fort, which holds a unique and complex history.

Hadeer Omar: And Thereafter Since the fort’s original inception in 1906, and throughout its existence, it has been at a confluence between the historic market area and the seaside port and is now in a central location between Souq Waqif and Msheireb.

Hadeer Omar: And Thereafter The artist draws upon the surrounding areas of Souq Waqif as sources of inspiration, weaving together traditional and contemporary aspects of daily life, translating and transforming them into surreal immersive environments.

Hadeer Omar: And Thereafter Omar’s installation - And Thereafter - activates Souq Waqif into a dynamic spatial experience that transforms three key areas of Al Koot Fort; ‘The Transition’ (courtyard), ‘The Journey’ (back rooms), and ‘The Metamorphosis’ (entrance room). She creates a heightened sense of the myriad sensory experiences in the souq through captured images and sounds, all uniquely choreographed in the designated spaces of the fort.

Hadeer Omar: And Thereafter The narrative unfolds as the spaces are explored in no particular sequence, guided by the experiential elements of sound, light and imagery. The boundaries between the projected light installations and their narratives, the fort’s architecture, and our physical presence as visitors exploring the space are blurred through Omar’s immersive storytelling and use of captivating technologies in the fort’s environment.

Hadeer Omar: And Thereafter The video projections and soundscapes play in an asynchronous loop creating a constantly-renewing, generative experience that evolves over time, celebrating contemporary Qatari heritage, wrapped in Omar’s immersive media dreamscape.

Hadeer Omar: And Thereafter The artist created And Thereafter in collaboration with Sonic Jeel, an artistic collective exploring hybrid-media, initiated by Michael Hersrud and Simone Muscolino, and multidisciplinary designer Katia Kolovea. The installation is curated by Sheikha Maryam Hassan Al-Thani.

Hadeer Omar: And Thereafter

Mashael Al Hejazi: My Mother Lulwa’s House Mashael Al Hejazi has been making photographs about the Msheireb area for the past eight years. Her photographic exploration began with her walks through the district which led to her realization that this was a place that was embedded in her earliest memories. It was where her grandfather’s house was located and where she had lived during a period of her childhood.

Mashael Al Hejazi: My Mother Lulwa’s House Al Hejazi’s installation at Barahat Al Jufairi’s majlis honors the social and architectural character of this historic district of Doha and the collective memories and narratives of the Al Baraha community. The fereej (area) consists of a cluster of 17 houses and a majlis and is one of the few remaining configurations of a traditional architectural fereej in the city. It is neighbored by multiple marketplaces where people tend to flock to find traditional goods and local produce.

Mashael Al Hejazi: My Mother Lulwa’s House The overarching theme of her work is to re-inhabit this traditional Qatari place with the characteristics of a loving home and family, interwoven through the connecting spaces of the majlis, the mother’s room, and the liwan (courtyard). The artist photographically captures her subjects’ expressions and presence, invites us to think about the key figures in our own nuclear families, and experience the activation of Barahat Al Jufairi’s majlis in a personal way.

Mashael Al Hejazi: My Mother Lulwa’s House The installation is initiated and organized by Tasweer in location partnership with Qatar Museums’ Cultural Heritage Protection Department. It was installed by the artist with Sinem Yoruk, Tasweer’s head of exhibitions. The installation was originally curated by Sheikha Maryam Hassan Al-Thani.

Mashael Al Hejazi: My Mother Lulwa’s House

Mashael Al Hejazi: My Mother Lulwa’s House