Anchored in Jerusalem

Jerusalem- al Quds, as place, as history, as spiritual anchor, as myth and as reality has from time immemorial been the subject of inspiration for artists, singers, poets and chroniclers. All have glorified its magnificence, sung its beauty, recounted its history and told its tales. For present day Palestinians, despite of the city being  sectioned  by aggressive wars, occupied,  stolen, divided, re-divided, shaped and  re-shaped, Jerusalem  still remains  in their  hearts and  minds a place representing the “omphalos”, the navel or the center  of the world, their  world.

Sadly though many young Palestinian artists today have not known the real Jerusalem, and have only shaped their knowledge of the place virtually. They have built their own Jerusalem; they have  imagined it alleys and  buildings,  experienced its magical sunsets,  felt its textures, caressed its stones, absorbed its colors, sensed its smells, enjoyed its people, all through the  power of  imagination and fantasy, because  in truth their actual  awareness of  the city, is a marred reality, disfigured by the  Separation Wall, the military checkpoints and  the settlements. It is of a city being choked.

In curating this exhibition we looked for works by artists who in the 1960’s have actually experienced closely, physically and emotionally the true meaning of Jerusalem. While we searched, we found out an amazing corpus of works in which Jerusalem was indeed the “center” of those artists’ universe, drawn to it as if by magic, they have actually lingered in its alleys, savored its textures, heard its sounds, tasted its spices and enjoyed both its authentic local colors as well as its rich universality.  

My brother Vladimir and his friends Kamal Boullata and the late Hani Jawharieh, formed a lively trio working together, laughing, sharing and living their true understanding  of Jerusalem.  Their paths crossed other art practitioners, filmmakers, dramatists and musicians such as Samia Keibni, Ibrahim Souss, Tania Tamari, Patrick Lama and Samir Farah.  Their paths also crossed mine.

This exhibition is dedicated to the memory of those amongst them who have departed, and to the lingering love of the other artists who have been separated from their beloved city and not because they willed it.

Vera Tamari