Gaza - A Moment of Becoming Art Exhibition
The exhibition is open for visits daily from 10:30 am to 4:30 pm, except on Fridays and Sundays.
Amidst the genocidal war waged by the Israeli occupation army against Palestinians in Gaza, waves of a Zionist campaign of physical violence and harassment also ripple throughout occupied Palestine, and against Palestinians and their supporters in the diaspora. In November 2023 a group of artists held numerous meetings to reflect together on what is the role of art and artists during this pivotal moment, drawing inspiration from the movement of committed artists of the last century and historical art movements around the world.
All that followed 7 October – the perpetual horrors perpetrated on Gaza – brought the artists into a state of incapacitation, helplessness, and shock. Many questions were raised by the artists in their conversations: which practices, values, and directions need to be abandoned, and which need to be invoked at this critical point in time? What constitutes a viable art movement and what are the roles that artists should embrace today? What are the relevant narratives for today and tomorrow, and how can we redefine the relationship between art and our society as it is now? What is art for liberation, and what comprises the liberation of art? These and other questions are part of the public program for this exhibition: its discourse is meant to serve as a foundation for a manifesto, opening up prospects for a new horizon in the arts.
With this in mind, an invitation was launched for Palestinian artists to participate in this collective exhibition. The intention is that this exhibition would become a tradition held annually across various Palestinian geographies and the diaspora, documenting Palestinian art practices and fostering discourse on the question of art.
The initial conversations among artists and the idea of the exhibition would not have been possible without the collaboration of individual artists and the following institutions: the Palestinian League of Artists, Birzeit University Museum, Forum of Contemporary Visual Arts, the Palestinian Museum, the Palestinian Art Court – al Hoash, and the Qattan Foundation. Committees from among these participants selected and curated the works for the exhibition.
Special thanks to: Dia’ Jubeh ,Majdi Hadid, and Nader Khouri.