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Sara Kontar
A Syrian artist, photographer, and filmmaker based in France since 2016. Her work explores themes of exile, identity, and immigration, drawing from her own experience as a refugee. Using documentary and experimental photography, installation, video, and cinema, she examines the personal and collective dimensions of displacement. She holds a Master’s in Animation Cinema from ENSAD Paris (2023).
Her archival project "Towards a Light" (2021–2022), exhibited at the Palais de Tokyo in 2024, uses texts and cyanotype prints to reflect on migration’s impact. "Therefore, I Cut" (2023), explores the connections between women in exile through the act of cutting hair, winning the Inge Morath Award by Magnum and exhibiting internationally. Her short documentary 3350 KM, recounting her separation from her father in Syria, was selected for international festivals and was a candidate for the European Film Academy Awards.
Through her projects, Kontar documents refugee stories, highlighting experiences of adaptation and belonging. Her work has been exhibited international venus such as Palais de Tokyo, Sharjah Art Foundation, and Tbilisi Photography & Multimedia Museum. In 2021, she founded Al-Ayoun, a platform connecting Syrian visual storytellers through exhibitions, screenings, and workshops.
GRANTS AND AWARDS
Winner Inge Morath Award 2024 MAGNUM
Plat(t)form Fotomuseum Winterthur Porfolio review 2024
Magnum Fondation - Arabic Documentary Photography Fellowship 2024
Winner FotoFemme United Photography the universal language 2024
Tbilisi Photo Festival - Fertile Ground mentorship project 2023-2024
VII Academy allumni level 1 and 2 documentary photography practice 2023-2024
Paris Photo Student Carte Blanche finalist 2023
Magnum Foundation Grantee (ADPP) 2022
Prince Claus Fund Grantee (ADPP) 2022
Ettijahat Independent Cultural - Laboratory of Arts Programme 2022
EXHIBITIONS
Tbilisi Photography & Multimedia Museum - ‘Something Very Dear’ (Tbilisi, Georgia Mar-Mai 2025)
Galerie C - Je suis une hors-la-loi (Neuchâtel, Switzerland Jan-Feb 2025)
Sharjah Art Foundation - Vantage Point Sharjah 12: If I Were Another (Sharjah Sep-Dec 2024)
ART EXPLORA - CONTRE COURANT (International 2024-2026)
Arab Film and Media Institute - Banat El Hara (NYC, May 3-5, 2024)
Musée de la Femme - “Photography: the Universal Language.” (Marrakesh, April-October 2024)
Palais de Tokyo - Dislocations (Paris, February-June 2024)
Maison de la Conversation with Promess d’Arts (Paris, January 2024)
POUSH - Group Exhibition (Paris, December-January 2023-2024)
Matossian Gallery - MOMENTS OF BEING (Beirut, September 2023)
Palais de Tokyo - L’AMI INTÉRIEUR (France, February 2022-January 2023)
Centre Pompidou - CE QUI NOUS POUSSE (Paris, September 2022)
Salahin Gallery - Group Exhibition (France, September (Paris, September 2022)
Les Amarres - Syrien N’est Fait Festival (Paris, September 2021)