Laura Boushnak's I READ I WRITE on View at Sana Gallery, June 19-July 28

I READ I WRITE by Laura Boushnak will be on view at Sana Gallery, 19 June to 28 July 2013.

With the waves of protests and demonstrations occurring in the Arab world, I'm wondering, as an Arab woman myself, how can the "Arab Spring" bring change in the region when a full half of its human potential is often neglected?

Arab countries collectively have one of the highest rates of female illiteracy in the world. Half of all Arab women are illiterate compared to one-third of men.

This ongoing project, which took me so far to five Arab countries -Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait and most recently Yemen and Tunis, shows the importance of literacy in enriching women's lives.

It also examines the major barriers, such as poverty, cultural constraints, minimal public spending on education, and outdated teaching methods that women and girls face in accessing education.

Great variations exist among Arab states in their literacy rates. Also, Arab women's chances of getting a basic education vary enormously according to which country they happen to have been born in.

Therefore, in each country I have covered so far, I tackled a different issue that influences women's education, which are common throughout the Arab world.

I also interviewed women who realized that their only way towards a better life was through education.

They spoke about their achievements, challenges and dreams.

The Artist: Laura Boushnak is a Palestinian photographer born in Kuwait. After completing a degree in sociology at the Lebanese University, Laura began her photography career covering news for the Associated Press in Lebanon.

She later worked as a photo editor and photographer for Agence France-Presse (AFP) at its Middle East hub in Cyprus and its Paris headquarters.

Her nine-year wire service experience included covering hard news in conflicts such as the war in Iraq and the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.

Her work has been published in the New York Times, The Guardian, The National Geographic, Le Monde and many more.

Since 2008 Laura has been working as a freelance photographer devoting more time for her long-term projects with a special focus on Arab women andeducation.

Her photos have been exhibited by museums and galleries, such as in New York, Mumbai, Thessaloniki, Beijing, Cairo, Noorderlecht, Dubai, Aleppo, Manama, Nicosia, Derby, Beirut, Oslo and Sarajevo.

She received the Peace Media Award from the Peace x Peace organization in Washington, DC in 2011 and her work was recently acquired by the BritishMuseum. She is also a founding member of Rawiya collective, which brings together the work and experience of six female photographers from the Middle East.

South-East Asia's First Middle Eastern Contemporary Art Gallery.

Pictured: Samira, 13, from Egypt, dropped out of school after second grade to help her mother with housework. She's attending a 9 months literacy program with an NGO in the suburbs of Cairo and chose to repeatedly write the title of the book used in the literacy classes: "I learn I'm enlightened". (from the series I Read I Write by Laura Boushnak)

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