RESILIENCE AND LIGHT: CONTEMPORARY PALESTINIAN ART
At a time of great change and uncertainty for the Arab world, Studio 3 Gallery presents the exhibition Resilience and Light: Contemporary Palestinian Art which opens on Thursday 11 April 2013.
The exhibition has been organised in partnership with Arts Canteen whose director, Aser El Saqqa, has curated a distinguished group of Palestinian artists for this exhibition including such leading figures in contemporary Arab art as: Laila Shawa, who exhibited at ICA’s AKA Peace exhibition; Abraaj Capital Art Prize winner Taysir Batniji; Hani Zurob, who was tipped by The Huffington Post as one of ten ‘international artists to watch in 2013’;
Hazem Harb who recently participated at the inaugural ART13 in London with his solo exhibition, Impossible Travel, Me and the Other Half & Inside-Outside; and Mohammed Joha who launched his ambitious project The Jasmine and Bread Revolution in 2012 at The Courtyard Gallery, Dubai.
While diverse in approach and style, the artists included in this exhibition are working within a shared set of circumstances that define the reception of contemporary Palestinian art within and beyond the Arab world. Resilience and Light will explore a number of themes arising from their specific situations, including how art is interpreted within and out of its historical, social and political context.
The artists exhibiting include: Taysir Batniji, Hazem Harb, Mohammed Joha, Laila Shawa and Hani Zurob.
Ben Thomas, Curator of Studio 3 Gallery, said: ‘it is very exciting to be able to bring to Canterbury such compelling work by Palestinian artists.’ Aser El Saqqa added that ‘curating this exhibition has been an enormous challenge. This collection has come to Canterbury from Gaza, London, Venice, Paris, Zurich and Dubai. Our aim is to show work of outstanding creativity, innovation and inspiration to new audiences’.
Laila Shawa, one of the artists who will be present at the private view said ‘my work proffers a synthesis of past and present ideas, formal, personal and political, into a powerful contemporary vision of Islamic popular culture.’
Resilience and Light will be on view from 11 April – 18 May.
http://www.artscanteen.com