Siraat (the path) - Art Fund Collection of Middle Eastern Photography

This photograph forms part of the Art Fund Collection of Middle Eastern Photography. This is an Art Fund initiative for the British Museum and V&A and the broad aim is to create a world-class capsule collection of major names and emerging talents in photography from the Middle East (whether living in the region or in diaspora), from 1900 to today. The Art Fund has given the two museums grants over £150,000 for the collection and additional support for the tour of the collection. The Saudi Arabian photographer Gharem works in a variety of media and was one of the artists featured in the Edge of Arabia exhibition (Brunei centre 2008). This work is called Sirat ‘PathÂ’. He painted the word repeated on a bridge that collapsed in floods. The word Sirat has a particular resonance in the QurÂ’an as it refers to the ‘Straight Path to GodÂ’.