Cuadro

Camille Zakharia was born in Lebanon in 1962 and left during the Civil War in 1985. Since the, he has spent time living in the USA, Greece, Turkey and Canada before moving to Bahrain in 1999. Zakharia graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from NSCAD University (Nova Scotia College of Art and Design), Halifax, Canada in 1997 and a Bachelor of Engineering from the American University in Beirut in 1985. 

Zakharia uses his camera to document the journey taken since his departure from Lebanon. Through photo-montage, collage and print he both reveals and reconstructs his encounters with people and places, exteriors and interiors. Within this process is an exploration of home, identity and belonging in the context of a globalized condition. A particular source of fascination is urban landscape and what is represented socially and culturally by changes in the shape and size of cities.

Zakharia has received numerous accolades for his work including the first place prize in the International Photography Awards in 2006 and 2007, and shortlisted for the Jameel Prize in 2009. Zakharia has exhibited and collected prolifically across North America, Europe and the Middle East, including the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Canadian Museum of Civilizations in Quebec, National Art Gallery in Bangladesh, Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization and the Sharjah Biennale in Sharjah, Appleton Museum of Art in Florida, Bin Matar House in Muharraq, National Museum King Abdul Aziz in Riyadh, Bait Al Zubair Museum in Muscat, Loutro ton Aeridon in Athens, Saba Cultural and Artistic Institute in Tehran, Acte 2 Gallery in Paris, FotoFest in Houston, and Multicultural Arts Center in Halifax. Zakharia’s Coastal Promenade series were exhibited in the Bahrain Pavilion in the 2012 Venice Architectural Biennale. This entry went on to win a Golden Lion for best national pavilion. Zakharia was also invited to participate in the 2013 Venice Arts Biennale on behalf of the Kingdom of Bahrain.