Hayat Al-Sharif is Stavanger’s new ICORN resident!
Award-winning Yemeni photographer and photojournalist Hayat Al-Sharif arrived in Stavanger, Norway where she can continue her work in safety.
In mid-January 2023, Stavanger City of Refuge welcomed Hayat Al-Sharif and her family to the city’s ICORN residency for the next two years. Al-Sharif is a renowned photographer and photojournalist from Yemen whose work highlights the experiences of ordinary people in Yemen, and especially women and children living in the backdrop of civil war and humanitarian hardship.
In the context of Yemen’s bloody conflicts, Hayat and her journalist husband Redhwan Al-Sharif were regularly threatened, harassed, and attacked. Despite the risk, Hayat continued her work as a photographer until she and her family were forced to flee Yemen at the end of 2022. In January 2023, Al-Sharif became Stavanger’s 13th ICORN resident.
Following her arrival in Stavanger, Hayat Al-Sharif said:
‘Arriving with my family in Stavanger is emotionally rewarding and professionally secure as I feel I have the freedom to express my opinions without any fear. I am grateful to the whole ICORN family!’
Hayat Al-Sharif’s photography work has featured in numerous international exhibitions and media outlets. From the 3D virtual exhibition ‘Invisible Connections’ (2022), organised by the UN’s Special Envoy to Yemen and UNESCO, photographing for the UN World Food Programme, to being part of the 2021/2022 winter edition of the Swiss magazine Global. Al-Sharif has also undertaken photographic assignments for the UN Development Programme in Sana'a, the capital of Yemen.
Hayat’s work has appeared on ARTE TV, Donia Watan, SWR, SAGE Journals, and many other Arabic and Yemeni publications, including the National Yemen and the Yemen Post. Alongside her photography work, Hayat has been involved in humanitarian aid projects, through consultancy, writing, and translation. Al-Sharif was the Lead Consultant in Yemen for the ‘Competitive Agriculture Systems for High Value Crops Project’.
For the next two years of her ICORN residency, Hayat is preparing several photography exhibitions aimed at engaging the community in Stavanger and would like to work with local institutions and journalists. Al-Sharif is planning to collaborate with other ICORN residents and would like to write a book on the war in Yemen through the perspective of women.
The Library and Cultural Centre Sølvberget is the hosting organisation for ICORN residents in Stavanger. On Hayat Al-Sharif’s arrival in Stavanger, Sølvberget’s Director Anne Torill Stensberg said:
‘On behalf of everyone at Sølvberget, I would like to warmly welcome Hayat and her family to Sølvberget. The fact that Stavanger will now be this family’s hometown where Hayat can pursue her photography work freely shows how important it is for us never to give up working for freedom of expression in the way that ICORN does’.
Lotte Løkeland Hovda, the ICORN coordinator in Stavanger added:
‘I am so happy that Hayat and her family have arrived safely in Stavanger. Stavanger City of Refuge and Sølvberget are so proud of having her as our ICORN resident for the next two years’.
Stavanger was the first City of Refuge in Norway, welcoming its first ICORN resident in 1996 and becoming the host of the ICORN Secretariat in 2006 when the organisation was established. Prior to Al-Sharif’s arrival, Stavanger hosted 12 other ICORN residents- investigative journalist Safaa Khalaf, cartoonist Ali Dorani/Mr. Eaten Fish, and writer, and performance and visual artist Elahe Rahroniya, most recently.
In the media:
Utrop: 'Jemenittisk fotograf er fribykunstner i Norge'.
Sølvberget: 'Hayat Al-Sharif er Stavangers nye fribykunstner'.
Stavanger Aftenblad: 'Det livsfarlige bildet'.
NRK: 'Stavanger Kommune: Ny friby-kunstner'.
Gulf Times: 'Tasweer Photo Festival Qatar opens at Mathaf'.
Tasweer: 'I AM THE TRAVELER AND ALSO THE ROAD'.
