Mouna Karray

Mouna Karray (born 1970) is a Tunisian photographer and video artist. Born in Sfax, Tunisia, she is primarily known for her photography and film. Her art explores socio-political themes in relation to identity.

Background and education Karray was born in 1970 in Sfax, Tunisia. She studied cinema and photography at the Institut Supérieur d’Animation Culturelle in Tunis and earned her Masters in Photography in 2001 at the Tokyo Polytechnic University in Japan. She is currently working in Sfax and Paris.

Art Karray's work mostly consists of photography and film, with themes of poverty, gender, and the Arab Spring resonating strongly. She uses her photography to specifically address poverty by documenting landscapes that have been neglected or abandoned, often juxtaposed with the people that still live there. She frequently photographs everyday objects and people, offering the audience of her work a glimpse into the subject's daily life.

Works Self Circumstances (2000) Karray developed the Self Circumstances series of self portraits while she was in Tokyo in 2000, which is based on Karray's experience of moving to Tokyo from Africa. The self-portraits were shot with hung metal rings in a public park. Karray used these in her self-portraits to evoke the impression of being lost in a labyrinth, which she perceived Tokyo to be at the time. Murmurer, Galerie El Marsa, Tunis (2011) The Sea is my Land, MAXXI, Rome (2013) Ici, ailleurs, Friche la Belle de Mai, Tour-Panorama, Marseille (2013) The Bamako Encounters, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon (2013) Bright Future Contemporary Art from Tunisia, Ifa Gallery Stuttgart (2013) COMETOGETHER: LONDON, Edge of Arabia. Old Truman Brewery, London (2012) Bright Futur Contemporary Art from Tunisia, Ifa Gallery Berlin (2012) Dream City, 3rd edition, Sfax, Tunis (2012) The Bamako Encounters, BOZAR, Brussels (2012) Chkoun Ahna, Musée National de Carthage, Tunisia (2012) Dégagement… La Tunisie un an après, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris (2012) Les 9e Rencontres de la photographie, Bamako (2011) A Useful Dream, BOZAR, Brussels (2010) PICHA, Image encounters, Lubumbashi (2010) L'autre bord #1, Galerie des grands bains douches, Marseille (2010) Photoquai, Musée du Quai Branly, Paris (2009) Spot on Bamako 2007, IFA gallery, Stuttgart (2009) Women of images, snatches of intimacy, Centre Culturelle Française a Beyrouth, Lebanon (2009)