HOW BEAUTIFUL IS PANAMA!
Group Collection
Curated by Simon Lourié & Yasmine Eid-Sabbagh

A photographic conversation from Burj al-Shamali camp.

There is a famed German children’s tale by the name of “Oh wie schön ist Panama!“ (How beautiful is Panama!). In the story, Tiger and Bear, two dear close friends, live together in their little house in the woods next to a river. One day, little Bear happens upon a wooden box with the word “Panama” written on it. The box is magically alluring and inspires all manner of fantasies about this unknown place. He and little Tiger decide to go off to Panama, the land of their dreams. They struggle along the way, for none of the animals they meet have heard of this mysterious “Panama”. Finally, a black crow invites them up to a tree from which they saw the valley where they formerly lived. It is so beautiful – the bear and the tiger are stunned, never realizing that they are gazing at their former home. They are convinced that this is the Panama of their dreams.

When I initiated small summer-workshops in six Palestinian refugee camps in 2001 with photographer Simon Lourié, I never imagined that we would go back-and-forth to the camps for four years until I’d finally decide to live in one of them – Burj al-Shamali. I knew that entering the camps and handing out cameras to children was a loaded act. I hesitated, constantly second-guessing myself. Why propose a cultural activity in a place with more pressing needs? How does one deal with images that are produced by a community and not by oneself? And what happens when the workshop ends? Still, the youth I met and collaborated with somehow urged me to continue the project.

The ultimate aim of our work never was to create professional photographers, but rather, to encourage them to use photography as a tool for expression. Questioning images and supporting each photographer’s individual vision is central to our project.

“How beautiful is Panama!” is the first chapter of an ongoing project that is part research, part open-ended conversation on the visual memory of Burj al-Shamali camp. Along with the “atelier,” a project of archiving family and studio photographs is in progress, as well as the production of a documentary film on the youth.

The project would not have gotten this far without the support of the Arab Image Foundation (Lebanon), the Prince Claus Fund (The Netherlands), the Burj al-Shamali center of Beit Atfal Assoumoud and the constant collaboration with Simon Lourié.