A Houston Biennial Looks Back to Look Forward

The twentieth FotoFest Biennial charts a sprawling history of global photography.
Nao Lin, Aperture, April 24, 2026

Aperture’s article highlights the 2026 FotoFest Biennial as a retrospective of forty years of exhibitions, showing how photography has responded to major political, social, and environmental issues across decades.

Among the featured artists is Sama Alshaibi, whose work reflects FotoFest’s long-standing engagement with themes of war, displacement, identity, and power. The article argues that by revisiting its history, FotoFest demonstrates photography’s continuing role in addressing the challenges of the present and future.