CHRISTIANA JABARA
At the heart of Christiana Jabara’s curatorial approach is her belief that art objects serve as active vessels for carrying cultural heritage forward. A sensibility towards pieces that convey stories through material presence directs her eye for combining works to harmonise as communicative and collaborative containers within a space. This is her way of constructing a diverse archive of creations by women from the Middle East that can be referenced and reconfigured by generations to come.
The ephemerality of desert cultures, from which many communities across the MENA region stem, places the capacity of objects to act as records of tradition in a central role for preservation and celebration.When exhibited in different sociogeographical contexts, art and design pieces become complex cultural transporters as resonances layer over one another casting new reflections on the most ancient civilisations.
Christiana sees artists and designers as alchemists adept at drawing out and distilling meanings into material forms. This materiality is a way of connecting to shared roots for inspiration and identity both through objects and paintings.
In her eyes, collecting and patronage, alongside curation, are closely woven into this process of cultural meaning-making through their essential support and safekeeping for the future.
LARA JABARA
Naturally drawn to the visual arts from a young age, Lara Jabara advanced her passion, study and talent in art, photography and aesthetics with storytelling through her degree in creative direction in fashion and curation before envisaging and launching FAME. Joining the dots between photography, fashion, and design, as creative director she leads FAME’s entire creative vision across its digital presence and film culture and oversees the creative strategies and beliefs that communicate the platform’s signature style and identity.
Lara uses her personal lens in her role also as artistic director on shoots to cast the female designers she respects and admires in new lights, reflecting on their individual and collective works through the unique frame of FAME. Overseeing, taking part herself on set and working closely with creative collaborators that range from photographers, film directors and videographers, to models, musicians, graphic designers and events production teams, her gift for directing, editing, photographing and crafting striking imagery ensures her curatorial messaging and vision embedded throughout FAME is conveyed accurately by her teams.
Driven by FAME’s core mission to reconsider the fundamental role and evolving identity of women in Middle Eastern arts and creativity, a continuation of Lara’s own narrative, as well as the culture of the region, her inspired imagination, multifaceted abilities and strategic foresight serve as an anchor for all visual communication elements of the platform and curation of its projects.