Anhar Salem is a filmmaker and visual artist (b. Jeddah, 1993). She graduated in Information technology from the Arab Open University in Jeddah and went on to study at Le Fresnoy - Studio National des Arts Contemporains in Tourcoing. In her documentary practice, Anhar navigates between domestic and public spaces, using her phone to improvise with new forms of communication. The characters in her videos provide the means to question self-representation and image production in communities that have been marginalized as a result of migration and economic policies. 

In her videos Eyes (2015), Bridge (2015), Lybranith (2015) and Flow (2016), Anhar Salem documents herself walking for the first time in her car-oriented city. Mashallah. Why Did You Cross The Indian Ocean? (2023) is a staged interview between two generations of Hadhrami–Indonesian women in Jeddah: Anhar’s mother (Elia), her friend and client (Badriah) and her daughter (Sabah). It reveals their role in making a living and in creating networks in opposition to the public space occupied by men. Related to this video is Good Price (2023), a 10-metre fabric with drawings of batik patterns and packages of herbs and food that Anhar used to see at her mother's shop. The fabric is made from an Indonesian corset textile called “Stagen Bengkung Tenun” that is used for postpartum care. 

Log-in/log-out identities (2023) compiles expired residency permits of young Saudi-born YouTube Vloggers who testify about their departure to their countries of origin due to the lack of opportunities under anti-immigration regulations. 

Anhar Salem (Yemen/Indonesia) is in residence at the Cité internationale des arts with the support of the Al-Mansouria Foundation.

More information on the event can be found here.