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Through a series of photographs, Ahmed Mater charts the city´s origins to its more recent history over the last 5 years. It is a study of the site´s recent transformation - Mecca, until recently, embodied a unique urban tapestry, layered with histories that are stitched together by an abundance of organically rooted communities and cultures. It is a place that accommodated not only sacred structures and sites but also huge fluctuations in population during Ramadan (up to 3 million visitors a year travel to Mecca for Eid and Hajj). More recently, these sites and communities have been eradicated and are being replaced with five-star-studded high rise developments, transforming it from an active metropolis to the world´s most exclusive, yet most visited religious tourist destination, reflective of an unprecedented experimentation with architecture and its possible impact on social stratification. This photographic essay is a celebration of Mecca´s real and projected or imaginary states. It provides singular access to this site and its associated social and religious rituals, along with its architectural urban planned and proposed development.

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Mater, Ahmed
Ahmed Mater ( 1979) ist in Saudi-Arabien aufgewachsen. Er leitete ein Künstlerkollektiv, war Gründungsmitglied des Künstlerdorfs Al-Miftaha in Abha und später auch der gemeinnützigen Organisation Edge of Arabia. Sein Werk wurde in zahlreichen internationalen Institutionen ausgestellt und ging in öffentliche und private Sammlungen ein.

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