Introduction

The Art of the 1980s: Visions of the Homeland

By the 1990's the first Intifada was well into its second phase. Artists testify to having been inspired by the grass roots uprising and the courage of the population. The Intifada provided a catalyst for artists to venture into new ways of exploring and articulating questions of identity in their art. Hitherto, in the 1980's many Palestinian artists had been concerned with preserving and representing their cultural identity through their art, in circumstances, it must be remembered in which Palestinians were struggling for recognition of their national identity. It was in this context that the genre of landscape painting and imaging of the peasantry came to the fore, as many artists created utopian canvases of a golden age of Palestine. These idyllic landscapes, such as those created by Sliman Mansour and Nabil Anani were populated with egalitarian communities and the 'future Palestine' was cast in an image of the past. These paintings were not divorced from the nostalgic narratives of the generation that had experienced the Nakba of 1948 first hand. In the visual arts and other expressive forms such as theatre, peasants were celebrated for their steadfastness and elements of their material culture became national symbols, such as peasant women's costume, traditional foods and domestic crafts. The richly embroidered colourful costumes were important examples of local art and aesthetics and after the loss and occupation of the land they constituted a way of mapping the homeland, particularly as the designs and styles were specific to each region of Palestine. Domestic crafts such as basketry and pottery were also celebrated and were signs of cultural identity. In paintings of this decade the figure of the peasant woman was idealized as the motherland who cared and nurtured and preserved the community's traditions and cultural identity, ideals which were mirrored in the national discourse. Other artists explored various aspects of the landscape and the terrain, such as the olive harvest, and the olive tree itself became symbolic of the  land and struggle of its people. The tree was used in many artist's works as it was seen to represent a history of being rooted in place. In creating images that represented their identity Palestinian artists also explored the rich histories of peoples who had inhabited the region drawing inspiration from Islamic art, calligraphy, early Christian art and art of Canaanites, for example. All these different themes and symbols were deployed to articulate a historical, cultural and deep bond with the land. The paintings of that era can be understand as a discursive response to a political discourse which denied the legitimacy of Palestinians claims to their homeland and to a history of their presence.

Art and National Identity

Alongside the genre of landscape paintings was the genre of popular paintings. These works depicted exile and the experience of grief and hardship beyond the beloved homeland and epitomized the suffering of the people such as in paintings of Ismail Shammout. Jerusalem was another important theme and it was represented as a golden city with particular emphasis placed on imaging its Holy Christian and Muslim sites. Along side such paintings other artists produced more politically overt works using symbols such as guns, doves, The Dome of the Rock and outstretched fists. Allthese paintings were created in a context in which articulations of Palestinianidentity were outlawed. Under Israeli occupation paintings were classified bymilitary ruling as leaflets, and thus subject to the same censorship regulationsas any other printed matter, "Military order No. 101, article 6, prohibits residents of the West Bank from printing or publishing "any publication, advertisement, proclamation, picture or any other document" which contains any article with "political significance" except after obtaining a license from the Military Commander. "Printing" is defined in the order to include "carving on stone, typing on a typewriter, copying, photographing or any other manner of representation or of communicating expressions, numbers, symbols, maps, painting, decorations or any other similar material". (Shehadeh;1985;157). While officially, the colours of the Palestinian flag could not be grouped together in any one painting. According to the recollections of artists there was a close affinity between artists and the general public. Attendance at exhibitions was seen as a representation of one's national identity and the art work on show was seen as closely reflecting the people's concerns. Many paintings were reproduced in posters as a way of disseminating art to the population and they served as important symbols of cultural identity. With practically no art galleries, art academy, nor an art infra structure of any kind, artists took their art directly to the people. Artists were the driving forces behind exhibitions, which they organized in schools, community centres and universities. To the present day, for example, an art academy has still not been established in Palestine. Previous generations of artists either studied abroad, if they were fortunate to have the opportunity, or were self taught. While today's aspiring artists either study in Israeli institutions, the Arab world or further a field or take courses as part of their studies in Palestinian universities. Although articulations of identity were dominant themes in Palestinian art, a diversity of concerns has always been present. Throughout there have been artists who have been involved in creating decorative works and others have engaged in the formal questions and internal issues of abstract painting. At the same time there have been artists who have explored issues of the complexities of identity and the individual. Thus a history of different genres of art exists in Palestinian art and accounts for the rich diversity of work that is present in the exhibition however there always has been a strong impetus to represent issues pertaining to the question of identity.

The 1990s Re-presenting Identity and Place

By the 1990's artists ventured into greater experimentation inspired by the popular uprising, which caused a reconsideration of the role of art, its subject matter and methods of depiction. There was of course the production of popular images of the Intifada that represented the struggle on the streets, while other artists took a more intimate examination of the population, its daily life and forms of street art. Co-current was a move away from the use of oil painting and watercolour by a number of prominent artists towards greater experimentation with 'natural' materials, found and every day objects. Former icons and symbols of the motherland and the eulogized peasantry were put to one side as artists worked with mud, leather, wood and natural dyes in an exploration of tactile qualities of materials and surface and the nature and aesthetics of local crafts.

These new art works continued to represent the relationship to the land but not through the figurative but rather via materials which served as an index of the materiality of place. Their experiments were to inspire their contemporaries to liberate themselves from former political or academicstyles and to venture into new methods of representation. At the same time other artists began using materials and mediums to represent the post-modern reality and the rubric of contemporary identity through installations and videos. The arrival of the Palestinian National Authority and the "liberation" of parts of the occupied territories was accompanied by the establishment of new art galleries and greater opportunities for artists to travel abroad and participate in international exhibitions. However, it still is the case that very few international exhibitions are able to visit Palestine. After the previous years of heightened nationalism and a strong impetus to represent cultural identity and the plight of the people the work of artists shifted as they focused on their own individual research. A wide range of issues were explored in art work from abstract painting to recurring questions of place and identity and time. As artists were embarking on new directions and establishing new dialogues with the international art world the second Intifada erupted: It is still underway today and has brought incredible loss of life, injury and destruction to the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem. A situation on the ground has been put in place which amounts to the confinement of Palestinians to their towns and villages. The continually changing political circumstances undoubtedly have affected artistic practice, and at times artistic practice amounts to an act of resistance in the face of chaos and death. Artists over the past several years have created their work under curfew and siege and in isolation. After considerable experimentation by many artists painting continues to be a favoured medium and can be understood in light of the desire to create lasting representations in contrast to temporary forms such as installations, for the climate is one of continual transformation, instability and destruction. Many of the arts works in this exhibition reflect on the question of time in relation to change and memory. They examine how individuals and places have transformed and the different effects of the passage of time and many of the works evoke a sense of melancholy. Other works examine the relationship between the individual and the location and the experience of alienating contemporary reality which has inevitably redrawn the landscape of community, place and the collective dreams of the past and visions of the future. Thus the exhibition is very much a representation and reflection on the Palestinian experience.

Dr. Tina Sherwell