Events

Convened by novelist and scholar Adania Shibli, this event will explore questions related to the highly contested, fragmented space of Palestine/Israel. Breaking up the standard pattern of a scholarly symposium, it will not only feature talks and presentations, but also screenings of original art-work. The participating artists and scholars are Raed Bawaya, Kamal Boullata, Penelope Curtis, Catherine David, Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti, Eyal Sivan and Hani Zurob.
Tickets for this event are £20 (full) and £10 (concessions). To book a place please use the contact form below.


to present vs. to be present (an introduction) - Adania Shibli

This presentation attempts to contextualise the main themes which the symposium Still Life addresses- ‘movement and immobility’ and ‘current affairs’. Further it examines how the Palestinian condition comes to affect not only the content of art works, but also its forms and style. During the presentation, works by artists Sharif Waked and Taisir Batniji and others will be shown.



Space and the Other - Kamal Boullata

In this presentation the artist and researcher Kamal Boullata focuses on the cultural ramifications of space, and examines the reality of what has been repeatedly called ‘contested space’ in Palestine/Israel. For clarification, a comparative exposition of landscape paintings by pre-1948 Jewish European settlers in Palestine will be viewed along with landscape paintings by native Palestinian artists.



Filming Palestine in Israel , and vice versa - Eyal Sivan

In his presentation, filmmaker Eyal Sivan addresses questions about the ways in which Palestine - a country of which large parts had been destroyed and thus forced into disappearance - appears in the Israeli cinematic landscape. Sivan furthermore examines how images of the occupation impose themselves as the image of Palestine.




Stateless Nation - Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti

Architects and artists Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti present their exhibition and long term research ‘Stateless Nation’, presented at the Venice biennale 2003. The work explores the current Palestinian condition, including suffering military occupation, undergoing alienation in one’s own native land, and exile. In particular the work investigates and observes the new relationships between territory, state and populations, and further reflects the new meanings and implications of this on the physical and social Palestinian experience of space.



The Silence of the Space - Raed Bawaya

In his presentation, photographer Raed Bawaya shows his photographic series ‘ID 925596611’ (2003), which addresses the issue of freedom of movement and the state of legality in a given territory. The work is based on Bawya’s own experience. As a student at a photography school in Jerusalem, Bawaya, a Palestinian from Qatana village - located in what is designated by Israeli authorities as zone B – was arrested as he was found to be ‘illegal’ in Jerusalem, designated as zone C. He spent two weeks in prison, where he met Palestinian workers in the same situation, around which this series revolves.



Surviving Memories - Hani Zurob

In his presentation artist Hani Zurob recalls his first encounter with painting, during lengthy days under curfew imposed by the Israeli army on his neighbourhood in Rafah refugee camp in Gaza. In one of darkest rooms in the house, Zurob drew his very first lines. This memory still marks his painting style today. Zurob will show some of his work in progress ‘Standby 60’, inspired by 60 years of the Palestinian Nakba.



Wish You Were Here - Catherine David

In her presentation, curator Catherine David will try to introduce, via the works of artists she has worked with, the problem of idiosyncrasy and the local experience of space, as well as the urban and territorial phenomenology of conflicts in Middle East. Among the questions David will address is how artists are able to ’represent’ experiences and conditions which are ’invisible’ to the eye, and representation of those who are not living there.



PLEASE NOTE: Due to the restrictions of movement imposed on artists travelling from Palestine, the final line-up of participants may differ from the above.