Abdul Hay Massalam

Mostafa Hallaj

Suleiman Mansour

John Halaka

John Halaka

Made in Palestine
by Maymanah Farhat

Made in Palestine is the first museum exhibition of Modern Palestinian art in American history. Until the exhibition’s opening in 2003, never before had an American institution showcased the works of some of the most influential and established Palestinian artists on such a grand scale. Made in Palestine has become one of the most important art exhibitions in the history of Modern Arab art.

The exhibition features the work of twenty-three Palestinian artists living and working in the Arab World and Diaspora. Made in Palestine includes the art of Zuhdi Al Adawi, Tyseer Barakat, Rana Bishara, Rajie Cook, Mervat Essa, Ashraf Fawakhry, Samia Halaby, John Halaka, Rula Halawani, Mustafa al Hallaj, Jawad Ibrahim, Noel Jabbour, Emily Jacir, Suleiman Mansour, Abdul Hay Mussalam, Abdel Rahmen Al Muzayen, Muhammad Rakouie, Mohammad Abu Sall, Nida Sinnokrot, Vera Tamari, Mary Tuma, Adnan Yahya and Hani Zurob. Since its inauguration at the Station Museum in Houston, Texas, the exhibition has opened in San Francisco, California and Montpelier, Vermont, exposing tens of thousands of viewers to the unwavering commitment of Palestinian artists to articulate the history, fate and cultural heritage of their people.

The conception of such an art exhibition despite the fervent censorship of the American political landscape, enunciates the exhibition’s importance on yet another historical level. The American public is rarely informed of the brutal reality of the Israeli occupation of Palestine or of the horrendous living conditions faced in refugee camps in neighboring Arab countries. Little documentation of the uprooting of Palestinians and the destruction of their homes makes its way into the American media. Instead the voices of Palestinians remain in the shadows of negative stereotypes that cast them as perpetrators of violence. Despite such glaring bias, curators James Harithas, Tex Kerschen and Gabriel Delgado were able to produce an exhibition that facilitates the articulation of the collective Palestinian experience.

The artists of Made in Palestine use a variety of media in their work, which includes, painting, photography, installation, print, found objects, clay, mixed media and drawing. Issues of displacement, violent occupation, the right of return, the loss of innocent lives, the preservation of history, and the celebration of a resilient culture are all evoked in a unique collection of work that chronicles the plight of the Palestinian people.

Abdul Hay Mussalam’s sawdust relief paintings are executed through an aesthetic mode that denotes traditional Palestinian artistic practices. As a self-taught artist, Mussalam developed a method of relief painting that involves a glue and sawdust concoction, which he mixes himself, applies to wood, and then paints over with acrylic. His relief paintings often show scenes of Palestinian villages or folk traditions. Such scenes emphasize the deeply rooted cultural ties that have remained throughout Palestinian history in spite of nearly a century of sociopolitical hardship. A sense of confidence in both the resilience and determination of his people is detected in each composition. In Sabra and Shatilla, 1985, Mussalam commemorates the 1982 massacre of more than 2,000 Palestinian refugees during the Israeli occupation of Lebanon. A crowd of armed men, women, and children stand upon what appears, at first glance, to be a tank. Upon closer examination, one realizes that the tank-like object is actually of comprised of a Palestinian man. As cogs in Mussalam’s machine of resistance, the man’s arms serve as the physical support for the rest of the figures who stand tall and defiant to military occupation. Upon his chest is a key, representing, what has become for many Palestinians expelled from their homes during al Nakba (the catastrophe), a symbol of their will and right to return to their proper homes. Mussalam’s figures speak of the self-determination of Palestinian civilians whose struggle for the right of return refuses to be defeated by war and occupation. In remembrance of those that were killed during the massacres of Sabra and Shatilla, Mussalam dedicates a piece that expresses resistance and hope.

Mustafa Hallaj’s masterpiece Self Portrait as God, the Devil, and Man, 2000, is shown in eight rows of masonite-cut prints that are 14” x 37’ and read as the tale of one man’s journey throughout the history of mankind. As seen in Mussalam’s work, Hallaj also uses folkloric metaphors to symbolize the history and struggle of the Palestinian people. In Self Portrait as God, the Devil and Man, Hallaj creates a continuous procession of figures and scenes that is reminiscent of ancient Egyptian and Greek mythological friezes. The artist is depicted within the procession as different incarnations of being. The sequence reads as a chronicle of life, with the human condition represented in its most glorious and catastrophic states.

By representing himself within the massive assemblage of human figures, animals and mythical characters, Hallaj places his own identity, of a Palestinian man forced to live in exile, within the historical framework of mankind. Other images and symbols intended to represent Palestine, such as keys and traditional costumes and homes, are also used in the frieze. A powerful political statement is made through such symbolism, one that places an often ignored, so-called stateless people, within the center of the evolution of humanity. Through the alignment of Palestinian symbols with the origins of civilization, Hallaj denounces the numerous ways in which Palestinians are often denied political identity by affirming the historical perseverance of the Palestinian struggle that will continue to advocate the right of return for millions of displaced Palestinians.

Suleiman Mansour’s installation piece comprised of Wall (from the series: I, Ismael), 1997 and Garden of Hope, 2002, is an epic work in both subject and physical presence. Mansour’s Wall consists of six mud-on-wood panels that show Ismael, the revered ancestor of the Arab people. In the Biblical story of Ismael, God assured his father, Abraham, that his son would have a future of national greatness. Ismael and his mother were later expelled to the desert and nearly died of thirst until God showed them a well. He then rose to his intended national greatness by fathering twelve chiefs, consequently becoming the “father” of Arab tribes.

The consistency of the mud mixture used in Wall appears dry and cracked, creating a porous and vein-like quality that evokes a land and people in dire need of sustenance. Ismael’s figure emerges from the mud panels in two-dimensional forms that arrive at the viewer’s line of sight in immaculate embodiments of physicality. As the Biblical story reads, Mansour’s subject is a symbol of endurance and rebirth. Through Ismael, who attained national greatness despite a grueling journey of expulsion, Mansour pays homage to the struggle of his people. He further articulates the Palestinian plight through a large floor covering of mud, Garden of Hope, which is scattered with roses and lies beneath the multiple representations of Ismael. The roses symbolize those killed during the present Intifada (uprising) while attempting to defend their homes. The juxtaposition of death and survival, of hardship and resurrection, captures the complexity of modern Palestinian history.

John Halaka’s monumental mural, Stripped of Their Identity and Driven from Their Land (from the series: Forgotten Survivors), 1993/1997/2003, depicts the continual expulsion of Palestinians since al Nakba in 1948. The mass exodus is represented in a sea of men, women and children that travel directly towards the viewer. Unlike Hallaj’s procession that journeys from right to left, towards a destination far removed from the viewer, Halaka’s subjects appear to be nearly transcending the spatial boundaries that define the dimensional separation between the viewer and his work. Such a composition places the viewer directly within the environment of the displaced.
Halaka further impacts the viewer by rendering faceless figures, implying that his representation of mass exodus chronicles the innumerable refugee populations of modern times. Each figure is comprised of rubber stamped words that read, “Forgotten Survivors.” The anonymity of Halaka’s figures places the expulsion of millions of Palestinians within the universal context of political persecution and oppression that taints world history. Stripped of Their Identity and Driven from Their Land, challenges the apathy and historical amnesia that has left countless refugee populations to fend for themselves with few political rights.

Made in Palestine is a profound demonstration of the ability of art to communicate the experiences of a people whose collective voice is perpetually ignored or suppressed. Through such groundbreaking exhibitions we can begin to acquire a greater understanding of the violation of humanity that plagues so many of the world’s political conflicts.

*Al Jisser Group is currently raising funds and organizing to bring Made in Palestine to New York City. For more information visit: http://www.aljisser.org/.