Democratic Palestine : 3 (ص 58)
غرض
- عنوان
- Democratic Palestine : 3 (ص 58)
- المحتوى
-
Contemporary Palestinian Art,
its Start and Environment Influence
Despite the universality of human
civilization, one can speak of an inde-
pendent art, heritage and history of any
one people, based on the particular
characteristics which determine their
identity as the result of a specific histori- |
cal sequence.
Contemporary Palestinian art can-
not be isolated from the historical
development which has shaped the
Palestinian people, and all the upheav-
als which have affected Palestine. Of
particular impact were the repeated
invasions, the last of which was the
Zionist invasion, . bringing constant
attempts to obliterate the civilization and
cultural features of the. Palestinian
people. Continuous invasion affected
the cultural, social and political con-
tinuity in Palestine and subjected it to
instability and various distortions as is
the case in many Agab and ‘third world’
countries, while Europe experienced a
rich development on this level.
The start of the Palestinian
plastic art movement
The stage prior to 1948
Aside from drawings in churches,
the Islamic ornaments and the popular
art heritage from ancient times, the plas-
tic art movement in Palestine started
relatively late. With the beginning of this
century, it took the form of handicrafts as -
well as oil paintings, generally land-
scapes and portraits. At this stage, the
movement was weak in terms of produc-
tivity and exhibitions, due to the small
number of painters, and especially of
ones who studied art.
The crystallization of the
movement
The stage after 1948
The modern Palestinian art move-
ment crystallized in the middle of this
58
century, after the 1948 war a « the
Israeli occupation of significant parts of
the Palestinian homeland, which forced
thousands of Palestinians into exis, dis-
placement and starvation. At this ‘me, a>
few pioneer artists began to.record the
human plight of the Palestinian people in
their works of art. Ismail Shamout
can be considered a:pioneer 11 this
respect. He was one of the thousands
exiled into refugee camps. In those dif-
ficult circumstances, he started his art
work with images of the daily details of
his people’s suffering. Shamout's early
works dealt with the subjects of the
Palestinian people's exodus and suffer-
ing in exile...the massacres committed
by the Zionist gangs and the simple tents
under whose roof the refugees lived in
misery. Amidst this desperation, he also
depicted the hope of salvation
reversal of the exodus, and the return to
the homeland of sweet memories
Shamout's graphic realism plaveda
great role in establishing the basis of
contemporary Palestinian art Later on,
many artists used the same style and
subject matter, namely Taman el Sham
out, Tawfia Abdul Al, Mustafa Hallaj, ete
Together, these artists formed the basis
for this movement as it existed un‘! the
1967 rise of the armed Palestinian
revolution, which these artists professed
in many of their works.
The above concerns mainty the
subject matter of the Palestinian art at
this stage. With regards to artistic style.
classical realism was dominant. combin-
ing reality with artistic features.. The
dominance of this:style is due to several
factors: For one, the Palestinian art
movement was still young and was not
yet affected by.modern art. Secondly
the dramatic nature of the subject matter
imposed by the Palestinian experierice
demanded such a style. Thirdly, the
ays)
Palestinian people were most ahle to 4
grasp a realistic portrayal of their situa
tion.
1)
The rise of the armed revolu-
tion .
The stage after 1967
The rise of the armed Palestinian
revolution deeply affected the various
aspects of Palestinian life - cultural,
social, political and even psychological.
The people who had suffered so much
aggression and displacement now
moved into the stage of defending their
right to live and return to their lost home-
land. The Palestinian art of this stage
was Characterized by the following fea-
tures.
First: The appearance of new sym-
bols more defiant, assertive and radical
than those previously employed,such as
the fedayeen and gun to symbolize the
revolution, the horse as a symbol of
ascent: the kaffiyeh as a symbol of
Palestinian identity; the dove for peace;
blood for sacrifice; and the woman rep-
resenting the land and fertility. .
These symbols recurred in most
artistic works appearing. in the revolutio-
nary stage which we can call the stage of -
hope. Of course, within this commonality
of symbols, we can see different modes °
of application in accordance with each
artist's style |
Second: In this stage, a great
number of Palestinians studied at art
academies. which enriched the move-
ment. Related to this, new styles, trends
and schools like symbolism, impre-
ssionism, cubism and surrealism began
to influence Palestinian art.
Third: In order to confront the
Zionist theft and plunder of Palestinian
heritage, there was renewed employ-
ment of traditional Palestinian ornamen-
tal and popular art.
Fourth: This stage was charac-
terized by the spread of Palestinian art
from the local level to broader scopes
through exhibitions in Arab and foreign
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