London exhibition celebrates the lives of Arab sportswomen

Holly Peacock
WVoN co-editor

For the first time in history a female competitor from every country took part in the Olympic Games.

Many of the women came from Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei.

In celebration of the Arab female athletes, French photographer Brigitte Lacombe compiled an exhibition of photographs which was shown in London’s Sotheby’s Gallery.

The photographs were complemented with videos by her sister – documentary and film-maker Marian Lacombe.

Commissioned by Qatar Museums Authority (QMA), the exhibition displayed fifty Arabic sportswomen from 20 different countries who excelled in a range of sports and was on show until the 11 August.

Speaking to CNN Lacombe said she felt the exhibition and the inclusion of women from all countries in this year’s Olympics demonstrated that women and sport was hopefully turning  ”a really important corner.”

You can watch a taster of the exhibition on the QMA’s YouTube channel here.