The World Press Photo 2011 Exhibition in Downtown

The World Press Photo 2011 Exhibition was officially inaugurated at the Venue Gallery in Beirut Souks in the presence of political, social, art and media figures. The event is organized by the the faculty of Architecture Art & Design at the NDU in collaboration with Solidere and under the patronage of the Embassy of the Netherlands

The exhibition organized on an annual basis in 100 cities has registered so far 2 million visitors. World Press Photography represents more than a display of a number of professional photos; it aims to leverage expert media photography practice and creates a line of communication despite political and cultural barriers.

The exhibition grew to become a free tribune to discuss all maters related to press photography.   World Press Photo Exhibition will cover different activities including:

• A Photo Exhibition displaying pictures taken from the Archive of An-nahar Newspaper. Some of them are recent while others are in black and white; they relate to war events, arts and sports activities while reflecting the different aspects of the Lebanese life. The exhibition also asserts the high standards of journalistic photography in Lebanon.
• A photo exhibition titled “Beyond a Snap” under the theme “Life- Health- Hope”, sponsored by Charity organization “Skoun”, renowned for fighting drug addiction. This event is a competition where young amateurs are participating to express through their photography their interaction with life and experiences in health as well as their perspective of hope.  Their shots will be highlighted at the exhibition, where a jury committee will select the best artwork and present awards to winners on Wednesday 25 May 2011 at 7 PM.
• Pecha Kucha shows on Wednesday 25 May 2011 at 8 PM: It is a global network that originated from the Japanese Capital, Tokyo during February 2003, it includes a number of creative artists exchanging their arts experiences. This string of shows will see the participation of 20 creators displaying their works in architecture, photography and different forms of innovation.
• Screening of “Shankaboot” episodes in presence of the cast; “Shankaboot” is the world’s first Arabic language web series treating different social topics with a comedy twist and under a smart angle. In April 2011 it was awarded the International Digital Emmy® Award.

The World Press Photo Exhibition is open for visitors until the 1st of June 2011, on all week days from 2 PM till 9 PM.