SlideFest

GPP's first Slidefest in Canada — brought to Toronto with Gallery 44, one of the country's leading centres for contemporary photography. Palestinian photographers presented work from across the diaspora, with remote presentations streamed live into the room.

Each presenter took the stage for seven minutes, followed by a collective Q&A — the format unchanged from Dubai 2009.

Part of Platforma Festival 2025 — an arts festival focused on migration and displacement — Slidefest came to Peterborough for the first time, co-curated by Mohamed Somji and playwright Aisha Zia. The theme: first-generation migration, both economic and conflict-driven.

Three photographers presented work exploring what it means to arrive, to remain, and to belong — drawing on personal and community histories from across the world.

Five Palestinian photographers took the stage at Birmingham School of Art in an evening produced with GRAIN Projects, BCU's ArtActivisms/RAAD research group, and the British Journal of Photography. Work ranged from daily life in Gaza, to intergenerational exile, to the experience of Palestinian mothers at checkpoints.

Proceeds from the evening went to Medical Aid for Palestinians.

A special edition of Slidefest SAFAR — spotlighting the spirit of resistance across five countries: Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Sudan, and Yemen. Five photographers each presented for seven minutes, followed by a collective Q&A.

The evening reflected on collective struggles and solidarities in the face of oppression, occupation, and injustice — and the ways creativity becomes a force for resilience and defiance.

The Kingdom Photography Award’s third edition — When the Fog Whispers, curated by Mohamed Somji — opened at Hayy Jameel with a Slidefest. Lina Geoushy, AbdulMajeed, Mohamed Mahdy, Hicham Gardaf and Elham Dawsari each took seven minutes on the projects they made across the Aseer highlands, followed by a collective Q&A.

Ahead of the Kingdom Photography Award’s third-edition opening in Jeddah, Slidefest travelled to Studio Phi in Abha — the heart of the Aseer region the commissions documented. Lina Geoushy, AbdulMajeed, Mohamed Mahdy, Hicham Gardaf and Elham Dawsari presented their projects, seven minutes each with Q&A, with translation arranged for the English-language presentations.

Five photographers took the stage at Oxford House for an evening exploring culture, migration, and identity — voices from Morocco, the UK, East Asia, South Asia, and North Africa, each presenting a deeply personal project through the lens of diaspora experience.

Produced with the British Journal of Photography, the evening sold out — the first of what became an ongoing GPP × BJP series in London.

Slidefest Palestine came to London for the first time, hosted at the Stephen Lawrence Gallery, University of Greenwich, to a room of more than 80 people. Seven photographers presented work on Palestinian existence, resilience, and the preservation of archive and memory.

The evening spanned reportage, fine art, and recovered family archive — from Maen Hammad and Rehaf Batniji to Kegham Djeghalian Jr’s “Photo Kegham”, tracing the first photo studio in Gaza, opened by his grandfather in 1944.

GPP's first Slidefest in the United Kingdom — a sold-out evening presented as a pre-festival event at the ICA, tied to SAFAR Film Festival 2023. Six photographers presented work inspired by the festival's theme: A Journey Through Space and Time.

Artists explored home as an emotional and political construct, Beirut's economic collapse, gender-based violence in Egypt, Guantanamo Bay detention, and the displacement of Palestinians during COVID. Every seat was filled.

Slidefest Palestine brought together Palestinian photographers and artists for an evening of powerful imagery, personal narrative, and conversation — work spanning everyday life in Gaza, the disappearing fishing trade, skateboarding as resistance, and the lives of queer Palestinians.

The evening drew around 120 people to The Yard at Alserkal Avenue, the cultural complex where GPP has been based since its founding. Afterwards, GPP launched a series of open-edition prints by the presenting photographers, with proceeds directed to the artists.

The last Slidefest before the pandemic — a themed evening of photography presentations under the banner of counternarratives, paired with a daytime photography market at The Yard. The format that had grown from a simple community evening was now drawing crowds across Alserkal Avenue for a full day of photography.

Less than a year after the first Saudi edition at Athr Gallery, Slidefest returned to Jeddah — this time at Beydoun Space, again with Art Jameel as part of Photography Jameel’s annual programme. Saudi photographers Iman Al-Dabbagh and Abdulsalam Alamri presented alongside Kuwaiti photographers Huda Abdulmughni and Mohammed AlKouh — and GPP co-founder Mohamed Somji took the stage himself.

GPP's first Slidefest in Bahrain — presented as part of Sheikh Ebrahim Center's Annual Day of Photography. Six regional photographers took the stage including Hesham Al-Ammal, bringing the Slidefest format to Bahraini audiences for the first time.

A Photo Week special presenting artists from the Arab Documentary Photography Programme (ADPP) — Sima Ajlyakin, Abd Doumany, and others brought documentary work to the Concrete space at Alserkal Avenue during GPP's annual international photography week.

GPP’s presentation format travelled to Egypt for the first Cairo Photo Week — billed as the Cairo SlideJam, co-curated and co-hosted by Laura El-Tantawy and Mohamed Somji with PHOTOPIA. Six photographers presented five-minute projects, from Dalia Khamissy’s The Missing of Lebanon to Mohamed Mahdy’s Moon Dust, followed by audience Q&A — the same format as Dubai, in a new city.

A landmark for Slidefest — the first evening ever in Saudi Arabia. Co-hosted with Art Jameel as part of Photography Jameel, this evening at ATHR Gallery brought together six Saudi and regional photographers for presentations, Q&A, and conversation.

A Photo Week special edition themed Shift Your Focus — six photographers challenged the room's way of seeing. Tanya Habjouqa presented alongside Patrick Baz, Ali Al Shehabi, Mariam Al Arab, and others in a packed GPP evening during Photo Week.

The 20th Slidefest — a milestone edition during GPP Photo Week. Seven photographers were invited to mark the occasion, spanning the Middle East and Europe, presenting a breadth of personal projects and documentary work. Hassan Hajjaj and Sara Lando were among the headliners.

The second themed Slidefest of 2016 — seven photographers presenting on cities, architecture, and urban experience. Dubai, the Gulf, and beyond. Lamya Gargash and Yasser Elsheshtawy on the same bill as photographers exploring public space in Southeast Asia and Europe.

A celebration of community photography — seven photographers presenting personal projects, chai and samosas on arrival, and a live Periscope stream for those who couldn't make it. One of the most attended Slidefests of the Alserkal era.

A move to the American University campus — Gabriela Maj presented Almond Garden, Jalal Abuthina shared his long-term Inside Dubai project, and @thesquarerootofindia joined remotely. One of the first Slidefests to include a remote presenter.

One of the most internationally varied editions — Canadian documentary photographer Donald Weber, Martin Beck, and Henry Hargreaves (the conceptual food photographer, joining remotely), plus Prem Fors and Natnac Photos on the bill.

Franck Boutonnet presenting by remote from Europe, alongside Sarah Dea and Sreeranj — an evening of personal and documentary photography at Dubai Knowledge Village.

Catalin Marin on landscape photography, Farah Al Qaissieh presenting portraiture, alongside @beakphoto, @geralddxb, and a MyDubai feature — with Akkasah: Center for Photography (NYU Abu Dhabi) as a programme partner.

Seven photographers on stage. Hind Mezaina presented Deira Polaroid — her ongoing documentation of old Deira using an instant camera. Richard Allenby-Pratt showed Consumption, his long-term project on waste and material excess.

A free community Slidefest — no ticket required. Photographers presenting personal work, open to the public. A reminder that Slidefest was always built around access and community, not gatekeeping.

Ammar Al Attar, Lee Hoagland and fellow photographers presented personal work to a packed auditorium — the photographs from the night live in GPP's Facebook archive.

The tenth edition of Slidefest, free and open to the public at the Knowledge Village Auditorium. Edwin Koo presented Paradise Lost from Pakistan’s Swat Valley — remotely over Skype from Singapore, Christopher Pike the MECET caving expedition into Oman’s Majlis al Jinn, Sami Al Tokhais Semana Santa in Guatemala, and Sebastian Opitz his Dubai timelapses — “a futuristic city in a distant galaxy.”

“Now we fill a 400 seat auditorium” — GPP’s own words announcing the ninth edition. Nine photographers presented: Gerald Donovan’s 360° panorama shot from the top of the Burj Khalifa, Ammar Al Attar’s Prayer Rooms, Farah Al-Qasimi’s White Pearl, Black Gold, Farah Nosh’s work from Iraq, and Catalin Marin — a Slidefest I returnee — on Antarctica.

Three photographers across three continents — Richard Allenby-Pratt, Heike Bülau, and Diego López Calvén presented personal and documentary work to a full auditorium.

The second of three 2012 editions — photographers presenting personal projects at Dubai Knowledge Village as the community evening format hit its stride.

The first Slidefest to move out of GPP's own space — a step up to the Dubai Knowledge Village Auditorium, reflecting how quickly the community evening had grown in its first three years.

The fifth edition closed out Slidefest’s founding era. Karen Dias showed camel racing’s jockeys and caretakers in the UAE, Philip Cheung Soldiers’ Angels — Mortuary Affairs Specialists in Afghanistan — Aisha Al Qasimi her Million Faces of India’s street chaos, and Raja’a Khalid (returning from Slidefest I) Empire of Your Dreams, macro studies of 1960s–80s Pakistani TV dramas.

By the fourth edition Slidefest had settled into its quarterly rhythm at the Knowledge Village Auditorium — a free evening, seven presenters, and the Vista bar afterwards. Katarina Premfors (a Slidefest I returnee whose photograph fronted the invite) presented alongside Charney Magri, Antonie Robertson, Gerry O’Leary and others — and GPP’s own Mohamed Somji took the stage as well.

Slidefest III doubled as the eve-of-FotoWeekend event — a free evening at the Knowledge Village Auditorium. Ammar Al Attar showed Dubai and Sharjah street photography shot on a Leica M6, Amy Leang her Kushti wrestlers from India, Clint McLean Saltworks, Martin Prihoda his yogis of Rishikesh, and Wouter Kingma Project Endurance.

One edition in, Slidefest had already outgrown the office. The second evening moved to the Knowledge Village Auditorium — eleven photographers presenting work that ranged from drought in Yemen and portraits from Palestine to Gerald Donovan’s 45-gigapixel panorama of Dubai, then billed as the world’s biggest picture.

The one that started it all. On a Wednesday evening in October 2009, fifty people crammed into GPP’s small office on beanbags as ten Dubai-based photographers shared personal projects — documentary, fine art, still-life, landscape. No jury, no competition, no theme. The format that would grow to fill a 400-seat auditorium, and travel to Bahrain, Jeddah, London, Birmingham and Toronto, began as exactly this: photographers, a screen, and a room.