Contemporary art from a city at war: The case of Gaza (Palestine)

Abstract

When the Hamas organisation won territorial elections in 2006, the Gaza Strip has been experiencing a humanitarian crisis due to the ensuing Israeli embargo. Despite the resulting political and economic turmoil, Gaza has witnessed great vitality in its artistic scene. Most Palestinian artists actually come from Gaza, and a significant number of them have recently managed to gain international visibility. Besides the capacity of art to provide alternative visual narratives of a besieged city, art in this context is a tool that participates in construction of the city itself. This article aims to explore the interaction between art production and the backdrop of war within an urban landscape. It bears witness to the great artistic vitality of the Gazan people and moreover highlights Gaza's emerging cultural scene and the role increasingly played by the media and social networks, in contrast with the simplistic images often being conveyed. Based on both semi-structured interviews held with Gazan artists and participant observation in the local visual arts scene, this article seeks to shed light on the relationship between art and city in a context of urban crisis, through recognising Gaza's place as a Palestinian urban centre. Central to the issue of Palestinian national question and to potential breakthroughs in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Gaza is also relevant to understanding a number of challenges facing Arab and Muslim societies. Examining Gaza's art production in this specific context is crucial to comprehending how art participates in building a new city, beyond the media's narrowly stereotyped images.

Digitally Mediated Art in the War Zone: The Aesthetics of Resilience in Yemen

“…For artists living in zones of conflict, art becomes a medium that is "strongly connected to the collective nationalist imaginary and salient episodes of local history" (Slitine 2018, 51). In war and conflict zones of the Middle East, smoking art, which is based on the principle of transforming the smoke released by bombings into certain representational figures, and emerged as a popular art form among young activist-artists in Palestine (Slitine 2018;El-Haddad 2014). By the same token, Yemen-based artist Saba Jallas transforms real images of the war into works of art that reflect her desire to symbolically restore her country, using merely her smartphone.…”

“…A plethora of art forms has thrived in conflict zones of the Middle East and North Africa, especially in Palestine, Egypt, and Tunisia, as a means to communicate the despair of impacted individuals and communities in times of crises (Gröndahl 2012;Omri 2012;Downey 2014;LeVine 2015;Schriwer 2015;Kraidy 2016a;Slitine 2018). One of the most distinguishing features of the artistic expressions that have emerged from and responded to political and military conflicts of the past decade across MENA is the wide range of use of digital media technologies, tools, platforms, and creative forms.…”

The Poster Artwork in the Art of the Palestinian Artist Marwan Al-Allan

“…In the Palestinian situation, which is based on the constant resistance against the occupation, the political theme had dominated the majority of the Palestinian painting, and therefore, the poster obtained a wide area from this art [6,7]. Palestine gave rise to many visual (fine) and graphic artists over the period of the Israeli occupation for the Palestinian land [8,9].…”