A large-scale tapestry by Egyptian-Lebanese photographer and multimedia artist Lara Baladi (b. 1969, Beirut, Lebanon) is being exhibited in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery pavilion this summer as part of the museum’s “Perspectives” contemporary art series. On view Aug. 29–June 5, 2016, “Perspectives: Lara Baladi” centers on “Oum el Dounia,” a tapestry created by digital loom and based on a photographic collage. Immense in scale—nearly 10 feet tall and over 29 feet wide—the work playfully illustrates a genesis story that upends stereotypical views of Egypt and the desert. “Baladi’s multidisciplinary work questions and experiments with the photographic medium, its history and role in shaping perceptions and narratives of the Middle East,” said Carol Huh, assistant curator of contemporary art at the Freer and

Read More: Contemporary art installation at Smithsonian’s Sackler Gallery explores images of Egypt