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Resistance
Art Produces the 2004 Palestinian Art Calendar
Resistance Art is a Palestinian initiative to celebrate the diversity
and richness of Palestinian art and culture. Their aim is to break
the silence and share Palestinian art with the people of the world. The
blooming of Palestinian art under such thorny conditions is a true example
of the strength and defiance of the Palestinian character. Palestinian
artists ought to be recognized for their creativity, talent, excellence,
and persistence.
Their first product, the 2004 Palestinian Art Wall Calendar
is out and have already shipped it to more than 25 local distributors
in 25 cities in 10 countries all over the world. The calendar was
produced in cooperation with the League of Palestinian Artists in Ramallah
and Palestinian artists worldwide. A percentage of the proceeds will be
donated to the League of Palestinian Artists. The calendar features 12
paintings from Palestinian artists. Important Palestinian holidays and
anniversaries are marked on the calendar.
See the Artist's work...
To order the calendar and to find out more about their work go to: http://www.resistanceart.com
Background on Contemporary Palestinian Art:
The contemporary art movement in Palestine dates its beginnings from the
1950s. The development of artists and their work took place in the context
in which the Palestinian population lived under successive occupations
and under which their identity as Palestinians (to different degrees)
under Israeli rule, was contested. The arena of culture became a space
for the community to articulate their collective identity, for culture
is one of the spaces in which communities represent their identity. As
a consequence, exhibitions of Palestinian art were closed and paintings
confiscated as the occupying authorities attempted to quell such cultural
activities. Palestinian artists also faced additional problems which were
due to the absence of an art infra structure to support their work.
It is under the circumstances described above that contemporary art in
Palestine developed. A central preoccupation of artists has been the question
of identity, which has been articulated through numerous forms and metaphors
over the years. In the early years it was the experience of the loss of
the homeland and exile that became a central image. The former experience
of modernity in Palestine's growing cities with cafes, boutiques and cultural
activities was replaced with an image of modernity as exile and estrangement.
Along side these paintings was the creation of images that advocated and
celebrated revolutionary struggle.
In the late '70s and throughout the '80s what dominated artistic expression
was the question of national and cultural identity. Artists were actively
engaged in elaborating upon the elements that constituted their identity
which they chose to portray through representations of the landscape and
the peasantry. Numerous paintings created an idyllic image of life in
the village and the agricultural richness of the land. These utopian images
can be understood as both visions of the past and images of the dream
of a future homeland which was depicted as a return to the golden days
of the past. These popular images created comforting images of a stable
past which stood in contrast to the experience and uncertainty of Israeli
occupation. The peasantry, the olive tree, the cactus plant the traditional
village home became important symbols in this genre and were employed
as ways of representing the people's natural bond to the land. The depicted
Palestinian peasant woman in her traditional embroidered dress engaged
in activities such as caring for children, or harvesting, became the symbol
of the motherland and all its nurturing qualities. Jerusalem was also
imaged in idealized terms as a heavenly city, untouched by change or division
and its picturesque old streets and The Dome of Rock were regular subject
matter of Palestinian artists. These paintings enjoyed popular circulation
among Palestinians in the form of postcards and posters and were reproduced
on calendars which enabled such imagery to reach a wide audience.
While artists continued to explore these issues in their work at the beginning
of the 1990s there was the emergence of a new discourse among Palestinian
artists. The question of identity continued to be central but the forms
of expression began to shift as artists began to look for new ways of
expressing ideas about identity moving away from the images of the landscape
and the peasantry. Artists began using found and natural materials to
articulate their relationship to the land such as mud, olive leaves, cactus,
wood, herbs and natural dyes which were all used as part of a vocabulary
for their work. In their works artists are now attempting to address the
questions of 'what is art?' and 'what is the role of the artist vis-a-vis
the community?' which follows a period in which the political role of
art and the artist in relation to the national struggle had been more
clearly defined. There has been a range of responses from artists from
the perpetuation of old themes such as rural images and representations
of Jerusalem which are popular with the small purchasing public, those
who have withdrawn from artistic activity altogether, and those who have
moved towards abstraction and experimentation.
(Article written by Tina Sherwell in 2000.)
Vladimir Tamari - Born in Jerusalem, Palestine, in 1942. Studied physics and art from 1957 to 1963 at the American University of Beirut and St. Martin's School of Art in London. Continuously drawing and painting up till the present time, Tamari has been active in his parallel careers as an artist, inventor and physicist. He Moved to Japan in 1970, where he lives at present. He has continued to paint primarily in watercolours, and has held many personal and group exhibitions in Palestine, Japan, Europe, the U.S., and the Arab world. Since 1980, in addition to his artwork, he has made intensive studies in optics, imaging, and auto-stereoscopic displays. Works by Vladimir Tamari are included in many private and public collections around the world.
Taleb A-Dweik - A-Dweik was born in Jerusalem in 1952. He finished his graduate studies from the Fine Arts Department in Cairo. A-Dweik is the director of the Fine Arts Department in Al-Quds University. His work focuses on child art and Jerusalem. A-Dweik has participated in several Palestinian and international exhibitions and had received several awards for his work.
Ahmad Nassar - Nassar is a graduate of Halwan University in Cairo. He currently lives in Ramallah. Nassar has participated in several exhibitions.
Nabil 'Anani - 'Anani was born in Imwas, Latroun, in 1943. He was raised in Halhoul, and graduated in photography from the Fine Arts College of Alexandria in 1969. 'Anani has authored a number of art books and was a founding member of the "New Vision" artists group in 1987 and of the Jerusalem Wasiti Center in 1994. In 1997, he was awarded the first Palestine Prize for Visual Arts. He was elected in 1998 as the head of the Palestinian Artist's League. 'Anani currently resides in Ramallah.
Samia Halabi - Halaby was born in Al-Quds (Jerusalem) in 1936. In 1948, Halaby and her family were displaced from Palestine to Beirut and then to the USA. She graduated from Indiana University with a Master of Fine Arts in painting in 1963, and began teaching. Halaby spent 10 years as professor of art the Yale School of Art. Building on abstraction and its relationship to nature and reality, Halaby focused on a variety of subject. At first her work was sharp and hard edged. Later work reflects an interest in soft space and are abstract impressions of motion. Palestine as subject matter enters into her abstract artwork as well as her politically explicit art. In parallel with oil and acrylic paintings, Halaby began, in 1985, to test her ideas in electronic media. Halaby's work has been exhibited her work internationally and is in numerous museums.
Hani Zu’rob - Zu'rob is a Palestinian artist born in Rafah. He currently lives and works in Ramallah. Hani Zurob has been inspired by the artists of the 70s, particularly Anani, Barakat, and Hallaj. Zurob's figures stand near each other in expressive abstracted form which dominate the surface. There is often a shift in the scale of the figures where some are gigantic in relation to a smaller set, and background shapes seem like a mosaic of bright colors and remind us of stained glass, inlaid mother-of-pearl and wood, and other Arabic arts.
