In an exclusive conversation moderated by Morad Montazami, director of Zamân Books & Curating, artists Sama Alshaibi and David Alekhuogie discuss their post-photographic practices, exploring experimental approaches to collage and the reinterpretation of modern archives. Both educators and artists, Sama Al-Shaibi and David Alekhuogie push the boundaries of photography beyond its traditional form. Their discussion focuses on three main themes: the materiality and immateriality of images, serendipity and spatial-temporal experimentation, and the post-documentary practice, which reinvents documentation by blending memory, repetition, and reinterpretation. Sama Alshaibi shares her work on the architecture of Baghdad, combining personal photographic archives and 3D laser scans to create collages that probe memory, exile, and the experience of time. David Alekhuogie, whose work was presented by the Aperture Foundation at the Book sector, revisits Walker Evans’ photographs of African masks, transforming them into multi-layered works blending sculpture and collage, questioning cultural significance and multiple perspectives. Together, they reveal how historical images can be rematerialized and reinterpreted into dynamic, multifaceted “crystal images” that challenge conventional ideas of archives and documentation.

Montazami Morad Montazami is an art historian, curator, and publisher. Former curator for Middle East and North Africa at Tate Modern (2014–2019), he founded Zamân Books & Curating, a platform dedicated to transnational studies of Arab, Asian, and African modern and contemporary art. Sama Alshaibi is a multimedia artist whose work explores war, exile, and the body as a site of resistance and memory, layering personal and political narratives through video, photography, performance, and installation. _ Founded in 1997, Paris Photo is the leading international art fair dedicated to photography and image-based art. Its

Conversations series brings together artists, curators, and leading figures in the art world for in-depth discussions. Image Cover:

Sama Alshaibi, Monument Free, 2025 - Courtesy of the artist and Ayyam Gallery

Sama Alshaibi discusses her work and mid-career solo exhibition “Tell it to the River,” at Maraya Art Center in Sharjah, UAE.

Highlights from Sama Alshaibi’s mid-career survey opening night. “Tell it to the River,” at Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah, UAE, 2023.

Sama Alshaibi's interview with "Seeing Things" (Dubai) about her solo exhibition "Staging the Imagined" at Ayyam Gallery, 2019.

Artist Sama Alshaibi talks about her newest monography, "Sand Rushes In" with Aperture, NYC
2015

LensCulture: Sand Rushes In: The Body in the Desert interview with Sama Alshaibi at Photo London, 2015

Arabesque LevantTV: “This week we went to see the opening of Sama Alshaibi's solo exhibition "Sand Rushes In". 2015