Body, Image, and Fragmentation: On Art in Times of Collapse
A conversation with Roee Rosen about the body as a political space, art in the shadow of violence, and the possibility of bearing an image when reality is unbearable.
Palestine/Israel
Drawing the Line
Three skulls: the one that does not speak, the one that does not hear, and the one that does not see. The years 1948, 2024, and 1967 are inscribed on their foreheads. They are adorned with wigs made from British maps of Mandatory Palestine, updated in Hebrew after the establishment of the State of Israel. Between them, a blazing fire rises toward the sky.
Palestinian Collective Memory: Present-Oriented and Forgotten
For Palestinians living in historic Palestine and for those referred to as "Palestinian refugees," the Nakba (Catastrophe) of 1948 never ended. This memory shapes Palestinian identity, but is it a lack of narrative that has existed for decades? Nour Saed analyzes factors inhibiting Palestinian society from investing in the arts while emphasizing the importance of storytelling and documenting a national experience versus forgetfulness.
Zerstört
The word “Zerstört” (destroyed, in German) is inscribed into the concrete floor. Shira Wachsmann tries, in vain, to eliminate it. The words “ort” (place) and “stört” (disturbing) are still visible. The destroyed is still present.
Jerusalem of Khara
"Jerusalem of Gold" is a misrepresentation, a deceptive fantasy of harmonious existence in a united city. It is a far cry from the city's reality. As in David Reeb's painting, behind the gilded holiness lurks a revolting mirror image.
Neither Here nor There: The Voice of Young Arab Women on the Border Line Between Perilous Identities
In A Place of Our Own, Iris Hassid's new photography project, she reveals the lives, the questions, and the old/new dilemmas of Arab identity within the state of Israel. This time, it is from a woman's point of view. She documents the divided lives and the search for a "third space" that would reconcile those identities.
Ayman Safiah: the Dimensions of Empty Space and the Question: What Comes Next?
Wisam Gibran offers a broad reading of the life work of the late Palestinian artist Ayman Safiah. He examines how the body becomes a site speaking the language of freedom, and dance disrupts all that is familiar with its courageous details; he delves into the issue of freedom, gauging the boundaries of the self and its collapse.
On the Corrupt in Art (a reading of Hannan Abu-Hussein's artworks)
The musician, artist, and poet Wisam Gibran suggests a socio-cultural reading of four works by the Palestinian artist Hannan Abu-Hussein's - Agina (Dough), Pouring the Oil, Bukjia (Bundle), In Between the Destruction of the Father - as representatives of inner worlds reflecting art's association with the cycle of life and death, movement and stillness, the sacred and the forbidden, the presence and the absence.
Boullata: Like a Fish Out of Water. Or, Art as a Visual Thesis
Palestinian visual artist Kamal Boullata (b. 1942, Jerusalem) departed this world on August 6, 2019, from his exile in Berlin at the age of seventy-seven. He leaves behind a formidable artistic legacy, which has made him stand out in the field of criticism and artistic production within the Palestinian and Arab art scene. In this article, Moroccan artist and poet Samir Salmi tries to present a comprehensive portrait of a multi-faceted artist, and reveals the strengths of his research, creative and critical work.
Available in Audio
Tohu Podcast: A conversation with Rafram Chaddad
David Duvshani talks with Rafram Chaddad, artist and connoisseur of cooking traditions of the Mediterranean, who lives in Tunisia. They discuss art and food, wandering, traditions and their preservation, artworks created by Chaddad in recent years, and the contemporary art scene in Tunisia.