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Gallery|Arts and Culture

Jordan a ‘haven’ for regional artists

Although multiple refugee influxes have strained Jordan’s economy, the country’s cultural sector has benefited.

Arts in Amman / DO NOT USE / RESTRICTED
Brushes and paints are laid out in Jordanian artist Ghassan Abu Laban's studio in Amman. [Silvia Boarini/Al Jazeera]
By Silvia Boarini
Published On 24 May 201524 May 2015
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Amman, Jordan – Jordan has repeatedly made the news over the years as the site of recurring refugee crises. Half of the country’s population of more than eight million people is estimated to be of Palestinian origin, with 2.1 million still registered as Palestinian refugees. UNHCR, the refugee agency, places the number of Iraqis who have found refuge in Jordan at between 700,000 and one million, while hundreds of thousands of Syrians have also streamed into the country amid an ongoing civil war in their home country.

Although the refugee influx has placed an enormous strain on Jordan’s social, economic and political fabric, the country’s cultural sector has benefited. Iraqi artists in particular are credited with shaking up Amman’s art scene in the 1990s.

“In Iraq, artists had already been exposed to a variety of European schools and different styles, and their audience was receptive to their experimentations,” Jordanian artist Ghassan Abu Laban told Al Jazeera. “Seeing their work in Amman’s galleries really pushed local artists to new limits.”

Many artists from throughout the region continue to produce work in Jordan today. According to Iraqi artist Shayban Ahmad: “I owe a lot to Amman. It has been a peaceful space where I have been able to work, experiment and grow.”

Arts in Amman / DO NOT USE / RESTRICTED
According to artist Rana Safadi: 'The influx of artists from the region has brought new depth to the art scene'. [Silvia Boarini/Al Jazeera]
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Arts in Amman / DO NOT USE / RESTRICTED
Iraqi artist Shayban Ahmad has lived in Jordan for about 15 years. [Silvia Boarini/Al Jazeera]
Arts in Amman / DO NOT USE / RESTRICTED
'I owe a lot to Amman. It has been a peaceful space where I have been able to work, experiment and grow,' Ahmad said. [Silvia Boarini/Al Jazeera]
Arts in Amman / DO NOT USE / RESTRICTED
Makan is a collective space for artists 'to examine contemporary visual culture, food, politics, gender, and sociopolitical issues'. [Silvia Boarini/Al Jazeera}
Arts in Amman / DO NOT USE / RESTRICTED
Abu Laban helps students learn the craft through painting classes. 'Art is an expression,' he said. 'What happens around us affects us, of course, as does our identity - but we can't be just like a radio giving the news.' [Silvia Boarini/Al Jazeera]
Arts in Amman / DO NOT USE / RESTRICTED
Abu Laban also teaches at the Jordanian University College of Art and Design. 'Without the arrival of Iraqis artists on the scene in the mid '90s, art in Jordan today would be much poorer,' he said. [Silvia Boarini/Al Jazeera]
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Arts in Amman / DO NOT USE / RESTRICTED
Makan, described as an 'ideas' lab', is run collectively by a number of artists. [Silvia Boarini/Al Jazeera]
Arts in Amman / DO NOT USE / RESTRICTED
Iraqi artist Sina Ata sits next to some of his work in the contemporary art gallery Jacaranda. 'I am from Iraq. It's impossible to work there, and this is the closest to home I can be. For many of us, Jordan has been a haven in an unstable region.' [Silvia Boarini/Al Jazeera]
Arts in Amman / DO NOT USE / RESTRICTED
Abdul Qader Bakhet, a Sudanese artist and art director in Dar al Anda, has been travelling to Jordan for the past 18 years. Here, he takes a look at an exhibition by Iraqi artist Qahtan al-Ameen. [Silvia Boarini/Al Jazeera]
Arts in Amman / DO NOT USE / RESTRICTED
The stairs leading to Darat al-Fanun, a leading contemporary art museum, are painted with a traditional Jordanian embroidery pattern. [Silvia Boarini/Al Jazeera]
Arts in Amman / DO NOT USE / RESTRICTED
'The art scene in Amman is very rich at the moment, but still only reaches a niche audience, so there is work to be done in this sense,' said Nadia Zacharia, the director of the art gallery Nabad. [Silvia Boarini/Al Jazeera]
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The satellite 'Amman 1', launched by an art project called the Palestine Space Agency, overlooks Amman outside the Darat al-Fanun museum. [Silvia Boarini/Al Jazeera]
Arts in Amman / DO NOT USE / RESTRICTED
Ibrahim Hodroj is a Jordanian artist of Lebanese descent. 'When I am in Jordan, I miss Lebanon. When I am in Lebanon, I miss Jordan,' he says. Along with his abstract work, he recently began producing artworks using calligraphy. [Silvia Boarini/Al Jazeera]
Arts in Amman / DO NOT USE / RESTRICTED
One of the entrances of Darat al-Fanun features a wall designed by architects from Amman. The wall seeks to highlight the complex historical stratification that characterises the site. [Silvia Boarini/Al Jazeera]


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