PITTSBURGH, PA.- The exhibition, opening May 30 at Carnegie Museum of Art, introduces the pioneering work of 12 leading women photographers who have tackled the very notion of representation with passion and power, questioning tradition and challenging perceptions of Middle Eastern identity. Their provocative work provides insights into questions of personal identity and the complex political and social landscapes of their home regions in images of great sophistication, expressiveness, and beauty.

She Who Tells a Story is an invitation not only to discover new photography, but to shift perspectives and open a cultural dialogue that begins with art. Organized into two main sections, “Constructing Identities,” and “New Documentary,” The exhibition reveals the individuality of each artist’s work, while allowing glimpses into these regions from a largely overlooked perspective: that of the women living in them. Their work challenges and dismantles Western notions about these regions, especially an entrenched, exoticized “orientalism” that has pervaded popular imagery for over a century.

When the exhibition opened at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 2013, it was the first of its kind in America. The CMOA presentation includes more than 70 works by Jananne Al-Ani, Boushra Almutawakel, Gohar Dashti, Rana El Nemr, Lalla Essaydi, Shadi Ghadirian, Tanya Habjouqa, Rula Halawani, Nermine Hammam, Rania Matar, Shirin Neshat, and Newsha Tavakolian.

She Who Tells a Story is organized for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, by Kristen Gresh, Estrellita and Yousuf Karsh Assistant Curator of Photographs. The exhibition catalogue, also authored by Gresh, is now in its third edition.