Artists showcase works at Darat Al Funun in solidarity with Palestine

AMMAN — Darat Al Funun — Khalid Shoman Foundation is currently showing a collection of artworks in solidarity with Palestine from the 1970s until the present day, by contemporary Arab artists: Samira Badran, Jumana Emil Abboud, Rula Halawani, Mona Hatoum, Khaled Hourani, Emily Jacir, Rachid Koraïchi, Abdul Hay Mosallam, Ahmed Nawash, Ismail Shammout, Laila Shawa, Wael Shawki and Suha Shoman.

The works on display document Palestine and its resistance throughout history and across various artistic media, including drawing, photography, design, calligraphy, poetry, installations and video works.In addition to the artworks, a lecture on the history of the Nakba by historian and researcher Walid Khalidi, and political activist and literary critic Edward Said’s last interview are also showing.

In Mona Hatoum’s installation “Misbah”, the traditional Ramadan lantern is subverted to project reflections of armed soldiers. 

Jumana Emil Abboud’s video documents the artist’s journey while smuggling lemons from a garden in Jerusalem to Ramallah, revealing the burdensome experience of the checkpoints and the continuous oppression by the occupation.

Similarly, in another video work titled “Crossing Surda” by Emily Jacir, the artist records her daily walk to work from Ramallah across the Surda checkpoint to Birzeit University.

Rula Halawani’s series “Negative Incursion” depicts the Israeli invasion of the city of Ramallah in 2002. 

In another photo series, titled “The Wall”, Halawani documents the apartheid wall at night. Laila Shawa’s “Gaza Walls” series presents a series of works inspired by the spray-painted writings by Gazans on the walls of their city in the 1990s.

In her video “Bayyaritna”, Suha Shoman narrates the violent and systematic destruction of her grandfather’s grove in Gaza by the occupation. 

Algerian artist Rachid Koraïchi’s series “A Nation In Exile”, is a collaborative work with Iraqi calligrapher Hassan Al Masoudi, a play between Mahmoud Darwish’s poetry and Koraïchi’s painting.  

All in addition to works by other artists from Palestine and the Arab world as part of the Khaled Shoman collection.

The artworks are on display until December 31. Darat al Funun is also organising weekly guided tours of the exhibition, welcoming schools, universities and families to visit and discuss the works on display and participate in educational and art-related activities during their tours.