Lawrie Shabibi presents New Western Views (Preview), the debut solo exhibition in the region by Swiss-Egyptian-American artist and photographer Marwan Bassiouni. The exhibition displays a collection of photographs the artist took between 2018 and 2022 inside mosques in the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the UK. This series reveals Bassiouni’s current project that explores the lived Muslim experience in the West through photography. Set to open on 18 September 2025, the show will run through 5 November 2025.
Each exhibited photo is anchored by a window frame, offering a layered view. Outside, we see Western scenes (supermarkets, roads, suburban junctions) while the foreground is shaped by Islamic interiors. Many of these prayer spaces, used by communities with roots in Bosnia, Lebanon, Turkey, Pakistan, India, Morocco, and Indonesia, are improvised within repurposed buildings such as garages and former storefronts. The result is a juxtaposition of faith and everyday Western life: familiar landscapes reframed through a sacred lens.
The displayed photo series reveals a quiet yet powerful narrative of cultural hybridity shaped by migration, adaptation, and integration. It resists the conventions of Orientalist image-making, which historically exoticised the Islamic world. Instead, Bassiouni offers a counter-narrative: the landscape beyond the window is not romanticised or distant; it simply is, part of the everyday surroundings of Muslim communities in the West.
Though formally composed, the photos remain authentic and natural. Using only available light and precise exposure, Bassiouni allows the interiors and exteriors to retain their individuality. Thus, two realms engage in a visual dialogue, coexisting on their terms.
About the artist
Marwan Bassiouni (b. 1985, Morges, Switzerland) is a Swiss-Egyptian-American artist and photographer who lives and works in Amsterdam (Netherlands). He earned a Federal Certificate of Capacity in Photography (2010) from the Photography School of Vevey (Switzerland) and a BA in Photography (2018) from the Royal Academy of Art (KABK) (The Hague, Netherlands).
In his works — large-scale photographic installations — Bassiouni often delves into the intersections of Islamic identity and Western society. His practice exists at the crossroads of documentary and fine art, exploring spirituality, identity, and the politics of representation within the Western landscape.
Bassiouni’s artworks have been shown internationally in numerous solo and collective exhibitions as well as several art fairs: ICP at 50 (International Center of Photography, USA, 2024); H3h Biennale (Oosterhout, Netherlands, 2023); Netherlands Imagined (Shanghai Center of Photography, China, 2022); New Dutch Views (solo) (Pestalozzi Kinderdorf, Trogen, Switzerland, 2021); and Vantage Point Sharjah 8 (Sharjah Art Foundation, Al Hamriyah Studios, UAE, 2020), among many others.
Bassiouni’s works are part of prominent public and private collections. These include the International Centre of Photography (New York, USA), Nederlands Fotomuseum and Amsterdam Museum (Netherlands), and Library collection Wallonie-Bruxelles Museum of Photography (Belgium), to name a few.
The artist is a recipient of multiple accolades and grants, such as a grant from the Jaap Harten funds (Netherlands, 2024), being named a finalist for the Swiss Design Award (Switzerland, 2021), and receiving Emerging Artist Grant from Mondriaan Funds (Netherlands) and the Fujifilm-Circulation(s) Award (France) in 2020.
For more information about New Western Views (Preview), please visit the exhibition’s official web page.
You might also be interested in exploring No Trespassing at Ishara Art Foundation and Your Ghosts Are Mine: Expanded Cinemas, Amplified Voices.
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