In Pictures

Gallery|Arts and Culture

In Pictures: ‘We are all Palestinians’

Palestinian and international artists come together for an art festival to celebrate ‘collective creative resistance’.

On October 22, Qalandia International was publicly launched at an outdoor event in al-Bireh. The festival will run until mid-November. Preparations and planning for this year(***)s biennial have been underway since the conclusion of the inaugural festival in 2012.
By Rich Wiles
Published On 11 Nov 2014

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In attempting to develop links across Palestine’s fragmented geography, the second edition of “Qalandia International” – Palestine’s contemporary arts biennial – undoubtedly faced challenges. Whether the festival should even take place, given the recent bombardment of Gaza, was brought into question before this year’s launch in Ramallah.

Yet, the organising committee decided the festival should go ahead as planned, “in spite of the collective wound and pain incurred … and in defiance to the horrific loss of life, suffering and destruction … in a spirit of collective creative resistance…”

Under the title “Archives – Lived and Shared”, Qalandia International has brought together more than 100 Palestinian and international artists for 26 days of exhibitions, installations, conferences, conceptual art and performances. At one exhibition opening, organisers felt the need to be clear about the context in which the festival is being implemented: “We are artists and we don’t respect politically imposed boundaries or decisions. By ‘Palestinians’ we mean all Palestinians around the world. By ‘Palestine’ we mean all of Palestine.”

Rana Khoury from Haifa performed the songs of Habib Shehadeh, a renowned Palestinian composer, during an outdoor concert in central Ramallah.
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Events are being held in various historic Palestinian cities, including Hebron, Ramallah, Haifa, Jerusalem, and Gaza.
Priest Husney Cohen runs the Samaritan museum near Nablus, which was among the institutions featured in the (***)Introduction to Palestinian Museums(***) exhibition. At the opening, Cohen talked about the historic links between the Palestinian Samaritan community (***)and our brothers the Muslims and Christians(***).
Gaza-based Majdal Nateel(***)s work (***)Without Coffins(***) was refused entry to the West Bank by Israeli authorities, so a duplicate copy had to be rebuilt in Ramallah for the (***)Young Artist of the Year(***) (YOYA) exhibition. Nateel(***)s work looks at the (***)Cemeteries of Numbers(***) - Israeli cemeteries in which the bodies of Palestinian martyrs are held without tombstones or names.
Hamody Gannam(***)s sound installation was not among the YOYA winners, although it proved hugely popular at the exhibition opening. His work features audio recordings of residents of the threatened Haifa neighbourhood of Wadi Nisnas describing their struggle (***)to preserve and maintain their identity(***). 
Australian artist Tom Nicholson intended to present his artist(***)s book alongside his large-scale abstract photographs: (***)The books were printed in Germany and have been held in Israeli customs since their arrival. I still have not seen the book myself and am beginning to wonder if it even exists!(***)
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The Jerusalem Show VII, entitled (***)Fractures(***), features several site-specific works such as Ceren Oykut(***)s line drawings which are installed on the walls of Hammam al-Shifa. Fractures curator, Basak Senova, was keen to point out that (***)no damage will be caused to the hammam as the paintings are on walls which will soon be re-plastered(***).
In his performance piece, Jonathan Loppin aims to (***)help people understand what it means to live under siege in Gaza(***). Loppin(***)s silent work sees him unpacking a box filled with 50 items that are banned from importation into the Gaza Strip. The banned items include packs of A4 paper, ginger, fishing nets, string, and jars of fruit salad.
Hera Buyuktasciyan(***)s site-specific installation highlights the water that used to run through (***)Patriarch(***)s Pool(***) in Jerusalem: (***)The work is about recreating a public space - since the installation was installed, children have come here every day to play. Water has always been a meeting point for people in this city.(***)
The (***)Mapping the First Intifada(***) procession was among a series of events re-examining the historic Palestinian uprising that began in 1987. The procession aimed to (***)intervene [in] and reappropriate public space and the citizens(***) relationship to it(***).
Attempts to democratise contemporary art and challenge the notion of exclusivity that some people feel with regards to art galleries included public art installations.
The coordinator of the (***)Disarming Design(***) exhibition at the Palestinian Academy of Arts, Sami Khalidi, believes art has a significant role to play in Palestine(***)s struggle: (***)Our design products present our political reality. Art is needed to present our case to the international community and it delivers messages in a way people can relate to.(***)
Vera Tamari and Yazid Anani(***)s (***)Phantom Dance(***) multimedia installation included a contemporary dance performance in its reflections on the 1963 Ramallah festival.
YOYA judges described the continuation of artistic practise amid such difficult times in Palestine as (***)the essence of sumud, of steadfastness(***). Ramallah(***)s Bashar Khalaf (centre) was named Young Artist of the Year for his paintings that played with contemporary references to the work of renowned Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour.