Palestinian art

Palestinian art is a term used to refer to paintings, posters, installation art and other visual media produced by Palestinian artists.

While the term has also been used to refer to ancient art produced in the geographical region of Palestine, in its modern usage it generally refers to work of contemporary Palestinian artists.

Similar to the structure of Palestinian society, the Palestinian art field extends over four main geographic centers: 1) the West Bank and Gaza Strip 2) Israel 3) the Palestinian diaspora in the Arab world, and 4) the Palestinian diaspora in Europe and the United States.cite web|title="Hagar: Contemporary Palestinian Art"|author=Tal Ben Zvi|publisher=Hagar Association|year=2006|accessdate=06.05.2007|url=http://www.hagar-gallery.com/Catalogues/docs/PArt_eng_final.pdf]

Contemporary Palestinian art finds its roots in folk art and traditional Christian and Islamic painting popular in Palestine over the ages. After the Nakba of 1948, nationalistic themes have predominated as Palestinian artists use diverse media to express and explore their connection to identity and land.cite book|title="Palestinian Art"|author=Gannit Ankori|year=1996|publisher=Reaktion Books|isbn=1861892594|url= http://books.google.com/books?id=SoagAAAACAAJ&dq=%22palestinian+art%22]

Overview

Pre 1948

Most Palestinian artists during this time were self-taught, painting landscapes and religious scenes in imitation of the European style, but overall the discipline was not very developed and art exhibitions were almost unheard of. Notable artists of this era include Khalil Halaby, Nahil Bishara, Sophie Halaby and Faddoul Odeh. Sophie Halaby was an exception, in that she was educated in France where she lived and worked for years. Jamal Badran (1909-1999) was a leading artist in the Islamic style. [ [http://imeu.net/news/article00254.shtml Visual arts] IMEU, JAN 14, 2006]

Post 1948

The contemporary Palestinian art field has been characterized by Tal Ben Zvi as consisting of three major elements:

*Palestinian artists residing in four separate geographical territories who sustain a differentiated national cultural field despite the geographic differences;
*The absence of 'Palestinian' institutions of art studies and training throughout the world, including the Palestinian Authority;
*The absence of a historical museum infrastructure.

These characteristics lead Zvi to conclude that unlike sovereign nation-states where the art field is based on "national borders, national museums and institutes of learning, the Palestinian art field is based chiefly on artists operating within the frame of a Palestinian identity."

Palestinian artists in Israel

Ahlam Shibli, Sami Bukhari, Reida Adon, Ashraf Fawakhry, Ahlam Jomah, Jumana Emil Abboud, and Anisa Ashkar are Palestinian artists - most of whom are graduates from art schools in Israel and form part of an entire generation of Palestinians, citizens of Israel born after 1967. The issue of identity for Palestinian citizens of Israel is a key subject of importance to the artwork produced. It is an identity described by Azmi Bishara thusly:

From both the historical and theoretical perspectives, the Arabs in Israel are part of the Palestinian Arab people. Their definition as 'Israeli Arabs' was formed concurrent with the emergence of the issue of the Palestinian refugees, and the establishment of the State of Israel on the ruins of the Palestinian people. Thus, the point of departure from which the history of the Palestinians in Israel is written is the very point in which the history of the Palestinians outside Israel was created. One cannot point at a nationality or national group called 'Israeli Arabs' or 'the Arabs of Israel'.

Ben Zvi suggests that this definition pinpoints the dialectic underpinning the identity of this group of artists who are identified "on the one hand, as part of a broad Palestinian cultural system, and on the other — in a differentiated manner — as the Palestinian minority in Israel."

Palestinian artists in Israel face a number of challenges. Art institutions in Israel, for example, are attended by a maximum of three Palestinian students per year. Palestinian artists are forced to develop their artistic modes of expression in Hebrew, rather than their mother tongue of Arabic. The artists' Arab or Palestinian culture is not part of the curricula, and is effectively excluded, since the cultural and artistic context is a Western and Israeli one. Further, the Israeli art field as a national field generally perceives the Arab Palestinian artist as foreign to the local culture, and "ultimately prevents his representation as an immanent part of the field."

Palestinian artists in the Arab world

Originating from the Palestinian culture that crystallized in the refugee camps mainly in Lebanon and Jordan, Palestinian artists in the Arab world were among the first to put forward a vision of Palestinian contemporary art. As the Palestinian Authority became more central to Palestinian nationalism, their number and influence in the Palestinian art field has decreased, and diasporic Palestinian artists in Europe and the United States, have become increasingly prominent.

One such artist whose works were exhibited in the "Made in Palestine" exhibit that toured the United States in 2005 is Mustafa Al-Hallaj.cite web|title=Unknown face of Palestinian art|author=Jonathan Curiel|publisher=San Francisco Chronicler|date=April 3, 2005|accessdate=06.05.2007|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/04/03/ING74C1ATK1.DTL]

Born in what is now Israel, Al-Hallaj is known throughout the Arab world, where he has been described as "Syria's most famous artist" and an "icon of contemporary Arab graphic arts." Al Hallaj died in 2002 in a fire at his home while trying to save his artwork but this effort which cost him his life, meant that some of his work has survived.

In "Self-Portrait as God, the Devil, and Man", Al-Hallaj uses rows of overlapping images and intricate etchings that took 10 years to complete to present "an epic retelling of the history of Palestinians from the 11th century B.C. to the present."

Collections

The Palestinian Art Court – Al Hoash, was founded in 2004, and opened its first gallery in East Jerusalem in 2005. [ [http://www.alhoashgallery.org/aboutus.shtml About Alhoash] ] Al Hoash has exhibited works of, among others, Sophie Halaby, Hassan Hourani, Vera Tamari and Suleiman Mansour. [ [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/art-from-gaza-and-the-west-bank-gallery-of-a-troubled-nation-439981.html Art from Gaza and the West Bank: Gallery of a troubled nation] The Palestinian answer to Charles Saatchi pursues the elusive dream of a permanent home for his unique but unheralded collection. By Donald Macintyre. 13 March 2007, The Independent]

Gallery

ee also

*Abed Abdi
*Naji Al-Ali
*Nasr Abdel Aziz Eleyan
*Ibrahim Ghannam
*Mustafa Al-Hallaj
*Hasan Hourani
*Mona Hatoum
*Emily Jacir
*Sliman Mansour
*Sharif Waked

External links

* [http://imeu.net/news/performing-arts.shtml Palestinian Performing Arts: News and Reviews at IMEU.net]
* [http://imeu.net/news/visual-arts.shtml Palestinian Visual Arts: News and Reviews at IMEU.net]
* [http://www.hagar-gallery.com/ Hagar Art Galley]
* [http://www.palestine-art.com/ Palestinian Art at Palestine-art.com]
* [http://www.alhoashgallery.org/ Palestinian Art Court at Al Hoash Gallery] , an independent non-profit organization, officially registered in 2004 to form a core for a future Palestinian National gallery in Jerusalem.
* [http://www.aljisser.org/ The Al Jisser group]

References