Faces of the Orient

Mysterious, terrifying, friendly, hospitable and broken. This can be the Orient, whose inhabitants are as similar to us as they are distant from us. The exhibition Faces of the Orient presents the stories of specific people that Arabist and Iranist Lenka Hrabalová met on her travels.

Thanks to her knowledge of local languages ​​and understanding of local cultures, the author enters the lives of those whose faces are often lost in the anonymity of news and statistics. Through their stories and her own photographic documentation, she brings closer the everyday reality of a region that is often perceived through stereotypes rather than through human destinies. In the photographs, you will meet desert dwellers, Bedouins and herders, but also people from urban societies in several countries of the vast Orient. You will meet people who are deeply religious and those who reject religion or are persecuted for their faith.

Lenka Hrabalová (Ph.D.) is a journalist and traveler specializing in the lifestyle of the Middle East and North Africa. She is the author of several books and many articles.