Rose Issa Projects publishes books on contemporary art

from the Arab world and Iran, and represents several

internationally respected and highly sought-after artists

from the region.

Our publications are sold online and in selected

bookshops. Whether you would like just one copy or

some stock for your shop or library, please visit our

website, www.roseissa.com and click “publications”

for details. You can also email us at info@roseissa.com.

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E-MAIL: INFO@ROSEISSA.COM WWW.ROSEISSA.COM

CONTEMPORARY ART FROM THE ARAB WORLD & IRAN

ROSE ISSA PROJECTS

BOOKS ON CONTEMPORARY ART FROM THE ARAB WORLD & IRAN

BY ROSE ISSA PROJECTS

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BY HASSAN HAJJAJPHOTOGRAPHY, FASHION, FILM, DESIGN

Now in his mid-career, the acclaimed artist-photographer Hassan Hajjaj has had many lives that inform the work he creates today. This timely publication explores how his upbringing in Morocco and London, his experiences in fashion and interior design, and his adventures in the music industry influence the vibrant colours, joyful spirit, and visual rhythm of his eagerly collected images.

Edited by Katia Hadidian, with essays by Martin Barnes (Senior Curator of Photographs, V&A); Dr Linda Komaroff (Curator of Islamic Art and the Department Head, Art of the Middle East, LACMA); Jessie Wender (Photo Editor, The New Yorker) and Mitra Abbaspour (Associate Curator in the Department of Photography, MoMA)

Rose Issa Projects, 2014 ISBN: 978-09570213-5-8 Hard cover, 120 pages, 100 colour illustrations RRP £30. Trade discount offered

ABOUT ROSE ISSA

Since 1982, Rose Issa has championed contemporary visual art from the Arab world and Iran, introducing a global audience to artists from the region who have since become stars of the international scene.

As well as publishing illustrated books, Rose Issa is renowned as an influential curator and writer who showcases established and upcoming artists from her own project space in London as well as producing exhibitions and publications with public institutions worldwide. These include the Victoria and Albert Museum, Tate Britain and the Barbican, London; the House of World Culture, Berlin; the Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam; the Hermitage, St Petersburg; and the European Parliament, Brussels.

She also advises the British Museum and the Imperial War Museum in London; L A C M A , the Metropolitan and the Smithsonian in the US; the Louis Vuitton Foundation, Paris; and the Written Art Foundation, Frankfurt.

See more at www.roseissa.com

1Cover, “Hassan’s Angel – Miriam” and left, “Hindi Flour” in By Hassan Hajjaj (above)

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MALIHEH AFNANFAMILIAR FACES

In her 50-year career, Maliheh Afnan has won a following for her abstract, seemingly stream-of-consciousness images, composed of scratched or meandering lines, glyphs and imagined scripts that convey layers of meaning and atmosphere. In this book she presents a parallel body of work – a range of occasional drawings and sketches, “familiar faces”, that are even more minimally composed; portraits in which a mere squiggle or smudge can be so expressive that it evokes an emotional, often nostalgic response. These faces are indeed familiar – instantly recognisable to anyone who has lived a long life, looked closely and remembered.

Edited and with an essay by Lutz Becker, with an artist’s statement by Maliheh Afnan

Rose Issa Projects, 2013 ISBN: 978-09570213-4-1 Hard cover, 72 pages, 43 illustrations RRP £15. Trade discount offered

RAEDA SAADEHREFRAMING PALESTINE

With considerable humour and charm, the photographer, installation, video and performance artist Raeda Saadeh conveys the many ironies, paradoxes, and frustrations of daily life in her homeland, Palestine. Drawing from influences as diverse as the European great master painters and ancient fairy tales, she presents an unexpectedly witty, upbeat strength and positivity that encourage the viewer to do a double-take and reconsider entrenched opinions.

Edited by Rose Issa with essays by Victoria Brittain, Juliet Cestar, Aida Nasrallah and Francesca Ricci

Beyond Art Production (our former imprint), 2012 ISBN: 978-09570213-2-7Hard cover, 64 pages, 33 illustrations RRP £15. Trade discount offered

FARHAD AHRARNIACANARY IN A COAL MINE

In his sculptures and embroidered digital prints on canvas, the artist Farhad Ahrarnia draws inspiration from his upbringing in Iran to comment on media manipulation, inter-cultural misunderstanding, and the ongoing tug-of-war between modernity and tradition. His multi-layered works resonate with symbolism and can be interpreted a multitude of ways, but the warmth, wit, vibrant colours and unsettling tension of the loose threads and needles with which he embellishes his work leave an immediate and lasting impression.

Edited by Rose Issa with essays by Christopher de Bellaigue (author, Patriot of Persia), Pippa Oldfield (head of programming, Impressions Gallery, Bradford), Lutz Becker and Sara Raza

Beyond Art Production (our former imprint), 2011 ISBN: 978-0-9570213-1-0Hard cover, 120 pages, 103 illustrations RRP £20. Trade discount offered

AYMAN BAALBAKIBEIRUT AGAIN AND AGAIN

Painter and installation artist Ayman Baalbaki is one of the most exciting young artists to emerge from the Middle East. Bold, striking and bursting with energy, his work can be interpreted a multitude of ways: where some see despair, others see hope; where some see menace, others see courage. Beyond question is his feeling for his hometown, Beirut, whose history he explores again and again.

Edited by Rose Issa with essays by Michel Fani (author, Dictionnaire de la Peinture Libanaise), and Lutz Becker

Beyond Art Production (our former imprint), 2011 ISBN: 978-0-9570213-0-3 Hard cover, 104 pages, 87 illustrations RRP £20. Trade discount offered

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SELMA GÜRBÜZSHADOWS OF MY SELF

Selma Gurbuz is one of Turkey’s best-known and most inspired contemporary artists. She draws on personal experiences to create visual elegies in which wonder and magic emerge from seeming chaos. Human and animal characters inhabit her fairytale settings, in images that reference shadow theatre, the art of silhouettes, animation and Ottoman, Japanese and European art history.

Edited by Rose Issa with essays by Rose Issa and Lutz Becker (author of George Grosz, the Big No and Avant-Garde Graphics, 1918-1934)

Beyond Art Production (our former imprint), 2011 ISBN: 978-0-9559515-7-2 Hard cover, 48 pages, 25 illustrations RRP £15. Trade discount offered

FATHI HASSAN

This publication celebrates a career spanning nearly 30 years, in which Fathi Hassan has won an international following for his vibrant, colourful and kinetic drawings, paintings, collages and installations. The artist frequently experiments with Arabic script and plays with the symbols, textures and calligraphy of his Nubian heritage.

Exploring the space between graphic symbolism and literal meaning, his work comments on the world as he sees it, his responses ranging from the rebellious to the exuberantly joyful.

Edited and with an introduction by Rose Issa

Beyond Art Production (our former imprint), 2010 ISBN 978-0-955-9515-6-5 Hard cover, 80 pages, 124 illustrations RRP £15. Trade discount offered

OMID SALEHIA PHOTOGRAPHER’S JOURNEY THROUGH IRAN

The award-winning social documentary photographer Omid Salehi captures the unique atmosphere and rhythm of life in contemporary Iran in this affectionate portrait of his homeland. Insightful essays by leading commentators accompany the images, making this an invaluable publication for readers fascinated by contemporary life in this intriguing part of the world.

Edited by Rose Issa, with essays by Baqer Moin (author, Khomeini: Life of the Ayatollah) and Coco Ferguson

Beyond Art Production (our former imprint), 2008 ISBN 978-0-955-9515-9-6 Hard cover, 80 pages, 50 illustrations RRP £15. Trade discount offered

SOHRAB SEPEHRI: THE EIGHT BOOKSA SELECTION OF POEMS

The Iranian poet and painter Sohrab Sepehri (1928-1980) belonged to the generation of ‘New Poets’ whose verse did not necessarily rhyme or have a strict meter. He was a gentle introvert by nature, but lived through turbulent times of political upheaval and huge social change. His reaction was to return to nature, mysticism, mythology, poetry and art. In this fresh translation, Bahiyeh Afnan Shahid conveys the meaning and feeling of the Farsi original, allowing the reader to appreciate why The Eight Books is one of the most popular books in Iran and has won admiration around the world.

Translated by Bahiyeh Afnan Shahid, with essays by Bahiyeh Afnan Shahid and Professor Mahmood Kavir

Rose Issa Projects, 2012ISBN 978-0-9570213-5-8 Soft cover, 120 pages RRP £15. Trade discount offered

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COLLABORATIONS

Rose Issa Projects has collaborated on several books with other international fine art publishers, editing the content and curating the imagery for important monographs about the work of leading contemporary artists from the Arab world and Iran.

Where possible, if these publications are sold out we provide eBooks as PDFs for you to download on to your computer or read on-the-go. You will find these together with eBooks of our own imprint on page 12.

PARASTOU FOROUHARART, LIFE AND DEATH IN IRAN

In her photographs, digital illustrations and installations, Parastou Forouhar expresses difficult subjects with wit, style and breathtaking artistry. Her work has a double edge, for at first glance we see its elegance and charm, but on the second we see its anger, for the voices of her parents, opposition politicians who were brutally murdered in their Tehran apartment in 1998, continue to be heard through their daughter’s work.

Edited by Rose Issa with essays by Rose Issa, Russell Harris (of the Dictionary of National Biography and Asian Art newspaper) and Lutz Becker (director, Mussolini: The History of Italian Fascism and The Double-Headed Eagle)

Beyond Art Production (our former imprint) in collaboration with Saqi Books, 2010ISBN 978-0-86356-448-2 Soft cover, 128 pages, 114 illustrations RRP £14.99. Trade discount offered

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MALIHEH AFNANTRACES, FACES, PLACES

Published to accompany a major exhibition at the Martin Gropius Bau Museum in Berlin (“Taswir: Pictorial Mappings of Modernity & Islam”, 2009), this publication spans the 50-year career of Maliheh Afnan – one of the most important contemporary artists from the Middle East. Afnan was born in Palestine to Persian parents and has lived and worked in Lebanon, Kuwait, Washington DC, Paris and London. Her themes of displacement and exile are rendered in a spare, discreet style that has won her admirers around the world.

Edited and with an introduction by Rose Issa. Foreword by John Berger, introduction by Lutz Becker and artist statement by Maliheh Afnan

Beyond Art Production (our former imprint) in collaboration with Saqi Books, 2009ISBN 978-0-8-6356-4864Hard cover, 178 pages, 123 illustrations RRP £25. Trade discount offered

ARAB PHOTOGRAPHY NOW

Published in the wake of the Arab Spring, this volume is essential reading for anyone interested in the visual culture of this fascinating part of the world. Presenting the work of 30 leading contemporary photographers from across the Middle East and North Africa, the wide range of styles, themes and techniques surveyed embraces photo-journalism, fine-art photography and portraiture. Arab Photography Now is an invaluable resource and a must-have for your personal library.

Edited by Rose Issa and Michket Krifa, with essays by the editors and statements from the contributing photographers

Published by Kehrer Verlag in collaboration with Beyond Art Production (our former imprint), 2011ISBN 978-3-86828-189-7 Hard cover, 240 pages, 215 illustrations RRP £30. Trade discount offered

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IRANIAN PHOTOGRAPHY NOW

This groundbreaking publication is the first to showcase every aspect of Iran’s exciting contemporary photography. Each of the 36 photographers included, whether living in Iran under censorship or in diaspora, create work of great political and cultural relevance. Abbas Kiarostami, Reza Aramesh, Shirin Neshat, Abbas, Parastou Forouhar, Kaveh Golestan, Amirali Ghasemi, and Shadi Ghadirian are just some of the names included.

Edited by Rose Issa; foreword by Martin Barnes (Curator of Photographs, V&A); preface by Homi Bhabha (Prof. of English & American Literature, Harvard University); and commentaries by the photographers

Published by Hatje Cantz in collaboration with Beyond Art Production (our former imprint), 2008. ISBN 978-3-7-7572-2575 Hard cover, 236 pages, 186 illustrations RRP £30. Trade discount offered

SHADI GHADIRIANIRANIAN PHOTOGRAPHER

The first monograph in English on the work of Shadi Ghadirian, one of Iran’s star photographers, whose work is eagerly collected by museums worldwide. Ghadirian’s themes are the paradoxical situations faced by women in Iran as they go about their daily lives. With great skill and much affection, she reveals the often humorous clash between tradition and modernity.

Edited and with an introduction by Rose Issa. Foreword by Marta Weiss (Curator of Photographs, V&A, London)

Beyond Art Production (our former imprint) in collaboration with Saqi Books, 2008 ISBN 978-0-8-6356-6387 Soft cover, 64 pages, 42 illustrations RRP £7.99. Trade discount offered

8 Overleaf, “Beautiful is the Silence of the Ruins” in Farhad Ahrarnia: Canary in a Coal Mine (page 3)

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CHANT AVEDISSIANCAIRO STENCILS

Chant Avedissian has a huge international following, eager for his affectionate portrayals of Egypt’s Golden Age, from the early days of King Farouk to the death of President Nasser. Avedissian’s inimitable iconography includes the legendary singers Om Kulthoum and Asmahan; screen sirens Shadia and Hind Rostom; heart-throbs Farid al-Atrash and Abdel Halim Hafez; statesmen such as Nasser; everyday folk from the 1950s and 60s; and the ancient hieroglyphs and modern packaging that instantly evoke the rhythm and energy of this fascinating culture.

Edited and with an essay by Rose Issa, with statements by Dr Anwar Gargash (Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, UAE) and Saeb Eigner.

Beyond Art Production (our former imprint) in collaboration with Saqi Books, 2006ISBN 978-0-8-6356-0804 Soft cover, 144 pages, 95 illustrations RRP £12.99. Trade discount offered

Overleaf, “Beautiful is the Silence of the Ruins” in Farhad Ahrarnia: Canary in a Coal Mine (page 3)

EBOOKS

These publications were very popular and the print editions are now sold out. However, you can still buy them as eBooks in PDF format. Simply visit our website, click the ‘publications’ tab and download your chosen book.

Visit www.roseissa.com

NERMINE HAMMAMCAIRO YEAR ONE

The recent civil unrest and social uprisings in Egypt are the subject of artist-photographer Nermine Hammam’s ground-breaking series, Upekkha and Unfolding. Combining painting, photography and digital manipulation, Hammam creates exquisite, intricate composites of layered images and symbols that form a rich and highly personal response to events in her homeland.

Edited by Rose Issa with essays by Nermine Hammam, Omar Al-Qattan (producer, Zindeeq and director, Muhammad, Legacy of a Prophet) and Rose Issa

Rose Issa Projects in collaboration with the AM Qattan Foundation, 2012. ISBN: 978-9950-313- 361 Soft cover, 52 pages, 31 illustrations Out of print, but available as an eBook: £3

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ZENDEGITWELVE CONTEMPORARY IRANIAN ARTISTS

Published on the occasion of an exhibition at the Beirut Exhibition Center in Lebanon, Zendegi features the work of 12 leading contemporary Iranian artists living inside and outside Iran: Maliheh Afnan, Farhad Ahrania, Mohamed Ehsai, Monir Farmafarmaian, Parastou Forouhar, Shadi Ghadirian, Bita Ghezelayagh, Taraneh Hemami, Abbas Kiarostami, Farhad Moshiri, Najaf Shokri and Mitra Tabrizian. Representatives of different generations and diverse media, these artists reflect upon their exceptional and ordinary experiences of daily life in a unique way, merging tradition with modernity.

Edited by Rose Issa with statements by the contributing artists

Rose Issa Projects in collaboration with the Beirut Exhibition Center, Lebanon. Printed by Saqi Books, 2010. ISBN 978-0-9559515-8-9 Soft cover, 98 pages, 68 illustrations Out of print, but available as an eBook: £3

ARABICITY

Nine very different contemporary artists from across the Arab world express their cultural heritage in unique and varied ways. Through video art, painting, photography and installation, the artists Basel Abbas & Ruanne Abou-Rahme, Buthayna Ali, Chant Avedissian, Ayman Baalbaki, Hassan Hajjaj, Fathi Hassan, Susan Hefuna and Raeda Saadeh present their conceptual and aesthetic concerns with warmth, humour and visual poetry. Published on the occasion of an exhibition by Rose Issa Projects at the Beirut Exhibition Center in Lebanon.

Edited and with an essay by Rose Issa, and statements by the contributing artists

Rose Issa Projects in collaboration with the Beirut Exhibition Center, Lebanon. Printed by Saqi Books, 2010. ISBN 978-0-9559515-5-8 Soft cover, 64 pages, 61 illustrationsOut of print, but available as an eBook: £3

MATTHEW CORBIN BISHOPTHE MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD

The exciting new British artist Matthew Corbin Bishop has been fascinated by painting, history and philately from a young age. The Making of the Modern World is his unique visual commentary on contemporary international relations as shaped by their colonial past. His exquisite and highly skilled paintings of stamps from countries under Ottoman, British, French, Spanish and Italian rule reveal the history, identity, economy and culture of each nation in a singe, breathtaking snapshot.

Edited and with a foreword by Rose Issa. Preface by Philip Mansel (author of Levant: Splendour and Catastrophe on the Mediterranean and Sultans in Splendour) with an essay by Matthew Corbin Bishop

Beyond Art Production (our former imprint), 2009 ISBN 978-0-955-9515-4-1 Soft cover, 48 pages, 77 illustrationsOut of print, but available as an eBook: £3

WALID SITILAND ON FIRE

This prolific and highly respected contemporary artist from Iraqi-Kurdistan is collected by several prestigious public and private institutions around the world. In his abstract paintings, drawings and installations, Walid Siti renders simple geometric shapes and symbols with such energy that they hum with life, illustrating his theories of the cyclical nature of existence.

Edited by Rose Issa with an interview by Francesca Ricci

Beyond Art Production (our former imprint), 2008 ISBN 978-0-9-5595-1503 Soft cover, 32 pages, 41 illustrationsOut of print, but available as an eBook: £3

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FARHAD AHRARNIASTITCHED

Artist Farhad Ahrarnia was born in Shiraz and lives and works in the UK. He digitally prints images onto canvas, and punctures the surface with intricate embroidery, needles and loose threads. The resulting visual and physical tension is unsettling, and leads the viewer to question the gulf between image, reality and hidden meaning.

Ahrarnia’s work has since featured at length in our second monograph, Farhad Aharnia: Canary In A Coal Mine (see page 3).

Edited and with an introduction by Rose Issa. Essay by Lutz Becker

Beyond Art Production (our former imprint), 2008 ISBN 978-0-9-5595-1510 Soft cover, 36 pages, 37 illustrationsOut of print, but available as an eBook: £3

HASSAN HAJJAJDAKKA MARRAKESH

The first monograph on the upbeat, fun-filled and sun-drenched photographs of Moroccan-British artist Hassan Hajjaj, who came to international attention with this series, “Dakka Marrakesh”.

Since then Hajjaj has gained a huge international following, and his subsequent body of work is showcased in our latest publication, By Hassan Hajjaj (see page 1).

Edited and with an essay by Rose Issa and an interview by Juliet Cestar

Beyond Art Production (our former imprint), 2008 ISBN 978-0-9-5595-1527 Soft cover, 32 pages, 23 illustrationsOut of print, but available as an eBook: £3

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REORIENTATIONSCONTEMPORARY ARAB REPRESENTATIONS

Published to accompany the ground-breaking show, “Reorientations”, the first major exhibition of the newly launched “Arab Week” at the European Parliament in Brussels, curated by Rose Issa in 2008. Embracing photography, installation and painting, the work of 30 Arab contemporary artists was shown, including Khalil Rabah, Youssef Nabil, Nabil Boutros, Reem al Faisal, Omar D, and Arwa Abouon among the many established names from the region.

Edited and with an introduction by Rose Issa. Foreword by Amr Moussa, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, with essays by Sarah Al Hamad and Michket Krifa (artistic director, Bamako Encounters)

Beyond Art Production (our former imprint) with the European Parliament Publications Office, 2008 ISBN: 978-9-2-8232-4349 Soft cover, 120 pages, 92 illustrationsOut of print, but available as an eBook: £3

MONIR SHAHROUDY FARMANFARMAIANMOSAICS OF MIRRORS

This is the first publication to celebrate the work of Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, known to her many admirers as Monir, whose career has spanned over 50 years and many continents.

Monir is the only contemporary artist to have combined the ancient Persian tradition of mirror mosaic and reverse-glass painting with Islamic geometry – all to spectacular, glittering effect. This comprehensive survey of the many stages of her career shows just why these pieces have become so highly coveted by the art establishment around the world.

Edited and with an essay by Rose Issa. Foreword by Frank Stella and introduction by Eleanor Sims (editor, Islamic Art)

Published by the Nazar Research and Cultural Institute, 2006. ISBN: 964-6994-46-6 Soft cover, 144 pages, 41 illustrationsOut of print, but available as an eBook: £5

M O S A I C S O F M I R R O R SMONIR SHAHROUDY FARMANFARMAIAN

16 Right, “King Farouk the First” in Chant Avedissian: Cairo Stencils (page 9)

2 13

Rose Issa Projects publishes books on contemporary art

from the Arab world and Iran, and represents several

internationally respected and highly sought-after artists

from the region.

Our publications are sold online and in selected

bookshops. Whether you would like just one copy or

some stock for your shop or library, please visit our

website, www.roseissa.com and click “publications”

for details. You can also email us at info@roseissa.com.

Desi

gn: n

orm

al in

dust

ries

E-MAIL: INFO@ROSEISSA.COM WWW.ROSEISSA.COM

CONTEMPORARY ART FROM THE ARAB WORLD & IRAN

ROSE ISSA PROJECTS

BOOKS ON CONTEMPORARY ART FROM THE ARAB WORLD & IRAN

BY ROSE ISSA PROJECTS