The “miracle” of making art in Palestine

The physical and material restrictions, and the psychological and motivational state that living in a conflict zone entails, make making art a Palestine in a “miracle” for authors like Motasem Siam and Lara Salous, capable of reflecting that context in their work.

Salous and Siam are in Madrid carrying out artistic residencies as part of the TEJA program, a network that welcomes creators in situations of vulnerability derived from armed conflicts or emergency situations.

The Arab House in the Spanish capital recently hosted the exhibition “Tadafuq/Flow: Palestinian artists on the move”of which both artists have been a part, and which reflects from a look at the political circumstances of Israel’s occupation in Palestine and the consequences of the conflict, to individual perspectives, such as gender, mental health or relationships. .

“They do a lot with very little and this generates a force that is reflected in the messages contained in the works”said Nicolás Combarro, curator of the exhibition, which has helped give visibility to 15 contemporary artists from LoopWest Bank and Jerusalem.

Palestinian identity

“When I think of Palestinian art I don’t just think of politics, but when you are Palestinian you are already political”said Motasem Siam, who shares in his work a telephone conversation with his mother, a sincere story that speaks about the realities and challenges of the new generations of Palestinians who are forced into exile.

Siam stands out for using a wide range of media to create an installation work involving prefabricated and found sequences, film and digital media.

Open to the various media of our time, he usually resorts to the material itself and its richness of materiality. For inspiration, he turns to the concept of identity and his childhood dreams and memories, whether sparked by nostalgia, special events, or self-explanatory.

Siam’s aspiration is not to shape politics as is usually done, but “show your representation of politics as a queer person in a situation of occupation by Israel.”

His works, he explains, are nourished by his memories and events of the past: “I write about my memories and my dreams.”

The art of wool

Lara Salous rescued her identity values ​​when her interest in learning about Palestinian interior design, materials and industry led her to discover the art of hand-spinning with natural wool as a resource and local crafts carried out by women from different places.

For the past two years, Salous has considered wool as a forgotten raw material, essential to local Palestinian heritage. He has shed light on contemporary designs that can be manufactured locally using this material.

The result was wool chairs and loom chairs, which combine originality with the contemporaneity of the material and traditional weaving patterns.

“It is not easy to live in a country that has suffered occupation and continuous attacks by Israelites. “You feel like you have to continually protect your identity and your culture.”says the 35-year-old Palestinian artist, who lives in Ramallah.

The initiative to publicize Palestinian contemporary art arises from the collaboration of the European program “European Cultural Spaces” of EUNIC, in collaboration with Alhoash (Jerusalem), Sakakini (Ramala) and GUCC (Gaza), the Spanish Consulate in Jerusalem/AECID, the French Institute in Palestine and the British Council in the Occupied Territories, in close collaboration with the Delegation of the EU in Palestine.