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summer academy
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September
2002
Contemporary Arab Artists 9th anniversary
Autumn Festival at Darat Al Funun
Coexisting Art At Arab Causes
By
Ghassan Jeha - the Star
Contemporary Arab Artists 9th anniversary/September
2002 Autumn Festival at Darat Al Funun Coexisting Art At Arab
Causes By Ghassan Jeha, the Star Lately, art in the Arab World
has become a vent for artists to introduce their ideas and
opinions of political developments in the region.
As the late artist Jabra Ibrahim Jabra once said: " Arab artists
are speaking for the nation as a whole. Their aptitude is
extensive but mysterious." Such a mystery, added Jabra, reflects
the Arab nations' identity and its role in developing social
unity among the people.
The artists of Darat Al Funun's Autumn Festival expressed
their perceptions of the current Arab world in various angles.
These different angles, however, explain the same concept
of oppression within and of the Arab World. The festival includes
two exhibitions, with the first celebrating the 9th anniversary
of the Contemporary Arab Artists exhibition. The second exhibition
is dedicated to the Darat's students who have taken part in
its summer academy the past three years. Thirty-six artists
from Jordan, Palestine and Iraq participated in the first
exhibition, presenting their work created in 1993-2002. Arab
struggles were present in every piece of these works: the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict, political differences within
the Arab world, and the social/cultural gap between the East
and west.
Naturalness is the main theme among all the art works in the
festival. The Palestinian struggle has become a strong influence
in the work of Iraqi and Jordanian artists, however, also
expressed their ideas about women's issues and social differences.
Almost all the Palestinian artist are now living outside their
homeland due to Israeli occupation. Through their work they
send a clear message that occupation is intolerable and the
only solution to peace is an independent land. Visitors to
the exhibition can easily correlate the relationship between
the current political situation in the Palestinian territories
and the art works. Dreams and reality are two faces of the
Darat's Autumn Festival. The political Arab art first began
with the notion of making political dreams into "real" ideas,
real in the artwork, that is.
Kamal Boullata's silk-screens are distinct in their content,
and lend to this notion in a sophisticated manner. Boullata,
a sketcher by heart, expresses his own thoughts about nature
and life through colors and distances. By manipulating single
colors to form one color, Boullata shows the individuality
and unity within the Arab world. Suleiman Mansour's interlocking
figures and hues resemble the power of the Palestinian uprising
against the occupation. His traditional and geometrical figures,
meanwhile, provide substances for the color and shapes in
his painting. The enlightened works of Nabila Hilmi's abstracts
add to this notion. Her expressive shapes and traces transform
themselves into different dimensions of the Palestinian suffering.
Save Boullata, five of the Palestinian artists were born in
Jerusalem in the 1940s. all share the same deprivation. They
can't live in Jerusalem because of occupation. Boullata chose
Washington, DC to work on his sketching.
Jumana Husseini found in Paris a haven for her impressionistic
outlook, while Vladimir Tamari sees in Japan's nature and
actuality the home for his enthusiastic emotions. Both Husseini
and Tamari obtained their art studies in Beirut and Paris.
Their works in the Darat reflect the Artists' feelings behind
the traces and shapes. The Palestinian suffering was also
present in the Jordanian part of the exhibition. Seventeen
Jordanian artists gathered symbolically in the same gallery
to expose their perspective about politics, nature and life
in Jordan.
For Mohammed Nasrallah, memories of his childhood in the Al
Wihdat refugee camp will always be present in his mind. The
39-year-old artist was born in Amman and has spent more than
20 years painting. He attributes his success to the Arab world,
where people are always striving for freedom and justice.
"People keep asking me to present my own vision and experience
about the way of life that I had in Amman," he said. "I, then,
see in my striving in art a way to have a common language
with my peopleÉ a language that is more comprehensive and
clear."
Khalid Khreis is also enchanting his fans by focusing on his
own environment and surroundings. "The painting is alive through
its content." He stressed. "The artist, hence, must be in
touch with his/her environment and society." Khreis' works
show his direct and indirect perspective of what's happening
in Jordan, the region and the world. Through his art, he speaks
for the Arab people. "Art is not an arithmetic formula. It
is the senses of life and humanity," he pointed out.
The 12-year UN embargo on Iraq and its implications on the
country's social and economic development are also present
in the festival. Jabra said the Iraqi artists are still considered
"revolutionists", in the world of Arab culture. "Most of the
Iraqi artists are deeply concerned with the dilemmas of today
and their relevance to their present." Works in the exhibition
were distinguished by their emphasis on body language and
the diverging space of fear and suspicion.
Samer Osama's touch of emotional frigidity, the transcendence
of Nadim Muhsin's visual pieces, and Nuha Al Radhi's graphical
orientation all proved to be inspiring and stimulating. Haimat
Mohamed Ali is a self-taught painter. Ali's earlier works
typically depicted his political dreams becoming reality on
canvas. "Much of Iraq's artists derive their symbolism from
the fight for freedom and independence of the Palestinian
revolutionaries," concluded Jabra. The Darat Al Funun Autumn
Festival will run until 10 October, open every day except
Friday. Admission is free of charge.
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