Towards The Rise Of Women

Artist: Laura Bushnaq – Palestine -France

Many women in the Arab world are denied education and thus deprived of the opportunity to grow and reach their full potential, which impedes the region’s progress. Arab women chances of getting basic education vary enormously according to which country they happen to have been born in. Kuwait, Jordan, and Tunisia have higher rates of school enrolment for girls than for boys, while Egypt, Sudan and Morocco have the worst rates of female illiteracy.

This report focuses on women in Egypt, a country, which the UN ranks as one of the ten worst in the world in terms of illiteracy. Nearly half of Egyptian female over the age of 15 cannot read or write and are therefore unable to participate fully in their society.

In this series of portraits, women attending literacy classes in Cairo were invited to participate in the project by writing their own words on prints of the barriers that have blocked their aspirations, such as poverty, gender-related disadvantages, early marriage and cultural constraints.

The Earth

Artist: Li Wei – China

“I was born in Hohot in 1976, Inner Mongolia, on the north boarder of China, Inner Mongolia is the largest grazing region in China. On this land live Han and Mongolian people. In January 2008, I started traveling and taking photos of Inner Mongolia.

I have visited places such as Alxa in west Inner Mongolia, Hulunbuir grassland in east Inner Mongolia, and Xilingol grassland in central Inner Mongolia .The process of producing “The Earth” photo project was the process for me to understand my hometown. On the grand grassland, the traditional nomadic life style was influenced by the impact of modernization. Some herders do not live in the yurts anymore, instead, they have settled in towns. only old Mongolian people have kept their Mongolian traditional wear, The young generation prefer to dress more fashionably. The Earth project represents the real life of people living on the Time and Space boarder”.

Artist: Liga Sakse – Latvia

Liga Sakse was born in Riga, Latvia, in 1976. She attended several art schools and Art Academy in Latvia, working with different forms of art – from photography to oil painting. Liga Sakse is Master of Arts. She also worked as an graphic designer and spent some time working with Corporative Identity projects.

Her photos have appeared in Calendars, Photo albums and magazines. In 2006, Sakse received an offering from the Prosecution office of the Republic of Latvia to create a calendar with smoke photos.

Her work has been shown at the Month of photography in Bratislava, Slovakia in 2003 (photo portfolio), Group Exhibit at the Blue Hall – Market place in Kunsthalle Arnstagt in Germany in 2005, and the Fotobild Berlin in 2006.

Her photo had been chosen for Fotobild Berlin promotion

materials in 2006. In 2006, Sakse’s photo takes Prize in the competition of Black and Whaite Photography Calendar Latio

2007.

“When I began photographing plastic forms of smokes a few years ago, I never imagined that I would still be doing so to this day. The dynamics of smokes allows me to expand my idea of what is beautiful from the very first photo session. Such photographic experience takes me in several time dimensions simultaneously.”