Four young artists set off on a year-long journey (Sept 02 - Sept 03) across the Middle East, working through Turkey, Iran, Kurdish Iraq, UAE, Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Israel. Their aim was to show - through art - their collective experience of the people and places they encountered, to leave behind popular misconceptions and, through an exchange of ideas, to enhance understanding. The result is Off Screen. Welcomed everywhere as artists, they got to places that journalists, tourists and writers don't get to. They made portraits of Iraqi artists in Baghdad three months after Bush declared hostilities over and hours later recorded the 4Ysuperscript th¨ of July celebrations in one of Saddam's former palaces; they recorded the invasion of Iraq from a village in Jordan, student protests in Iran, weddings, prayers, poems, wallscapes, MacDonald's workers in Oman, short stories about female identity and much, much more. This book presents the atmosphere and feel of the streets, mosques, homes and deserts they visited. Spontaneous images using tactile forms, colour and layered collages of typography and iconography are interwoven with diary extracts and ephemera to communicate a visually rich, deliberately subjective and very accessible record of this extraordinary journey. But more than that, this is a highly original portrait of cultural identity in the 21Ysuperscript st¨ century.

Al Braithwaite (age 24) is a painter and sculptor with a degree in Geography from Oxford University. He has exhibited at Frevd's Gallery (2001), Golden Cross (2000), Lennox Gallery (1999). He was awarded the Henry Oliver Beckitt Prize (2002), Shell Prize (2000), Millington-Drake Painting Prize (1998). He is Editor and Web Designer of YESart.co.uk and has led painting expeditions to Greece, Guatemala and Dominica. Henry Hemming (age 24) is a painter with a degree in History from the University of Newcastle. He has exhibited at Frevd's Gallery (2001), Lennox Gallery (1999), Wold Galleries (1998). He was awarded the Harmsworth Painting Prize (1998) and the Henry Croucher Prize (2002). He is Editor of Nomad travel magazine and founder of Nomad events and has led painting expeditions to the Brazilian Amazon, Belize, Dominica and Italy. Stephen Stapleton (age 26) is a collage artist with a degree in Critical Fine Art Practice from the University of Brighton. He has exhibited at the Royal Geographical Society (2000); and in Kansas City, USA (2000). He was awarded the Charles Musset Drawing Prize (1997) and the Waterstones Travel Writing Award. He is Creative Head of iNomad and has led expeditions to northern Ethiopia, South Africa and across North America. Georgie Weedon (age 24) is a filmmaker. She has an MA from Goldsmiths College and a degree in Combined Studies from the University of Newcastle. Exhibitions include New Beggin Gallery (2000). She directed and wrote Adam and Eve for the Durham Fashion Show (2001) and has worked with the London Film School and now works for Films of Record.