Romaisa Baddar

UTC-8

Amsterdam
Paris

Contact

hello@romaisabaddar.com
Instagram

Founded Platforms

Romaisa Baddar is a curator and publisher working between Amsterdam and Paris. Her practice focuses on photography and visual culture, with a particular interest in identity, memory, and contemporary image-making. Through publishing, exhibitions, and public programming, she develops projects that bring together archival and contemporary narratives across different formats and spaces.

Middle East Archive

Founded in 2020, Middle East Archive is an independent publishing and curatorial platform focused on photography from the Middle East and North Africa. Through books, exhibitions, and public programming, the platform works with both archival and contemporary image-making, with an interest in expanding visual narratives connected to the region and its diaspora.

Studio Samadi

Studio Samadi is an independent photography publishing house based between Amsterdam and New York. The platform focuses on long-term collaborations with photographers, developing publications through close attention to editing, sequencing, design, and material form, with a strong interest in conceptual image-making and identity.

Selected Press & Clients

New York Magazine
The Guardian
Dazed
Dazed Middle East
GQ Middle East
Diriyah Biennale Foundation
Nike
Adidas
Savoir Flair
It’s Nice That
Office Magazine
Huck Magazine

Bred Abu Dhabi
NRC
Hypebeast

Middle East Archive x Fouad ElKoury

Middle East Archive

Book curation and publishing

2021

Curated and published by Romaisa Baddar through Middle East Archive, this book brings together a selection of photographs by Fouad ElKoury made across Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, and Oman between 1980 and 1997. The publication was developed through close collaboration around the edit, sequencing, and overall direction of the book.

Blad’na New York, Los Angeles , London

Middle East Archive

Exhibition Curation

2022

In 2022, Middle East Archive presented its first physical exhibition, extending the online archive into a temporary pop up space in three cities New York, Los Angeles and London. The exhibition brought together works by Alexandra Boulat, Sindre Ellingsen, Fouad ElKoury, Attar Abbas, Haneen Hadiy, Hulton Archive, Ed Kashi, Jodi Cobb, Yuri Kozyrev, and Anja Niedringhaus. Alongside the exhibition, the space included a store activation by YaHabibi Market.

An Archive of Love Vol. I

Middle East Archive

Book curation and publishing

2023

An Archive of Love was the first collaborative publication by Middle East Archive, bringing together the work of more than 60 photographers. Romaisa Baddar led the concept, curation, and editorial direction of the book, developed as a collective reflection on love, intimacy, memory, and everyday life across the Middle East and North Africa.

Bred Abu Dhabi Exhibition

Bred Abu Dhabi & Crowdless

Exhibition Curation

2023

Curated in collaboration with the Saudi collective Crowdless, this exhibition took place during the annual BRED Abu Dhabi festival in the UAE in 2023. Developed around the release of An Archive of Love, the exhibition translated the publication into a physical space through a selection of photographic and archival works.

Football

Middle East Archive

Book curation and publishing

2024

Responsible for the concept, curation, and editorial direction of Football, a publication bringing together archival and contemporary photography exploring football culture across the Middle East and North Africa. The project focused on researching and connecting visual narratives from across the region, resulting in a collaborative publication featuring the work of photographers from different generations and contexts.

In the Name of God

Middle East Archive

Book curation and publishing

2024

Book curation and editorial direction for In the Name of God, a publication by Middle East Archive exploring faith, Islam, and the everyday lives of Muslim communities through photography. The project focused on challenging Western misconceptions around Islam by bringing together archival and contemporary images portraying daily expressions of faith, community, and spirituality across the Muslim diaspora.

New York Panel talk

Middle East Archive

Production and Curatorial Programming

2024

Concept development and production of a panel discussion in New York featuring photographers Dean Majd and Farah Al Qasimi. The conversation focused on themes of identity, artistic process, and the development of a personal visual language, bringing together different perspectives on photography and storytelling.

Bred Abu Dhabi Exhibition

Bred Abu Dhabi

Exhibition Curation

2025

Exhibition curation and exhibition design for a presentation developed around Football, a publication exploring football culture across the Middle East and North Africa through archival and contemporary photography. The exhibition took place during the annual BRED Abu Dhabi festival in the UAE in 2024 and brought together a curated selection of artists and photographic works connected to the project.

In the Name of God panel talk

Diriyah Biennale Foundation

Artist talk

2025

Panel talk and educational programming developed in collaboration with the Diriyah Biennale Foundation, centered around an in-depth discussion of the publication, its concept, curation, and editorial process. The event included a presentation of the project, video material, a photo installation, and a public Q&A.

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