Middle East Posters

View more than 6,000 posters from the Middle East that offer a glimpse of twentieth century life and culture in the region.

  

The Middle East Poster Collection showcases over 6,000 posters dealing with many aspects of Middle Eastern culture, religion, and history. The collection offers a wide range of documentary materials over a broad scope of subjects, countries and languages.

Sourced from various media types including billboard posters, books, magazines, lithographs, and fliers, this collection features  a wide range of materials dealing with politics, religion, popular culture, art, and current events in the twentieth century.

Especially prominent within the collection is a sizable number of Egyptian movie lithograph posters, Middle Eastern diaspora materials, and event posters from Harvard’s Center for Middle East Studies. With materials in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, French, and English, the collection documents the use of visual print culture across the region.

Posters range from the 1940s to the present, and some of the subjects featured include: 

Woman in a red headscarf with the word "syria"
  • Archaeology
  • Architecture
  • Calligraphy
  • Cinema and Film
  • Fashion
  • Folk Festival
  • Lectures & Public Events
  • Music Festivals & Concerts
  • Political Campaigns
  • Protest
  • Public Health
  • Religion
  • Travel and Tourism

Many of the posters have been digitized and can be viewed online.

View posters

Accessing These Materials

Many of the posters in this collection have been digitized and can be viewed online.

Contact

​Widener Library, Middle East, Asia, and Africa Division (MEAAD)