THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN NARRATIVE PROJECT.

“You know you don’t have to go if you are scared. You don’t have to prove anything”.

Messages of this kind and similar ones poured into my facebook inbox and my mobile phone.
I admit, it was not an easy decision to partake in this project. From about a week prior to the journey to Beit Jalah, I stopped sleeping. Nightmares returned at night and by day my head was full of difficult thoughts and fears. In between, I repeated in my head, like a mantra, a sentence that my friend Gilad Chushani said to me a few weeks earlier: fear stems from lack of knowledge. And I knew that I don’t know, and that I’m afraid. Rational or not, this fear was tangible even though I didn’t allow myself to get carried away with specific worries concerning possible dangers that might lie in waiting for me in the Palestinian town, in an encounter with people about whom I knew nothing except that they are Palestinian artists.

My last encounter with Palestinians on Israeli/Palestinian soil was very bad indeed. It was on the 21st of December 2000; I was a soldier in the Nahal and volunteered to help members of my peer-group who had settled in Maskiot in the Jordan Valley. While I was playing backgammon with a girl from my unit in the Meholah Junction, waiting for a lift to Maskiot, a young Palestinian man aged 20 or 21 sat next to us. Half an hour later, exactly at the moment of my sweeping victory in the game, he arose and walked towards the bus stop. A disturbing thought crossed my mind. I didn’t hear any approaching bus. I turned my head to follow him and suddenly felt him standing behind me, gripping me from behind tightly. I grabbed his hand that surrounded my neck in an attempt to break free when he screamed something in my ear and then there was a colossal explosion. I will skip all the graphic details. Later I spent 5 months recovering in Rambam Hospital, followed by a year of rehabilitation. Ever since, I suffer from loud ringing in my ears, and my daily activities brought to a standstill from time to time, with flashbacks where I re-live this experience weighing me down. This happens nearly always when I hear Arabic, see Arabic script, hear the explosion-like sounds of car engines, and all sorts of other benign situations; in short, what is considered a full post-traumatic phenomenon. So there, I have explained a bit about the reasons for all my anxieties and the fears I felt in anticipation of my visit to Palestine.

And indeed, as I arrived and took in on which side of the Separation Wall I stand, I was engulfed by anxiety. For about four hours I felt myself under an offensive of anxiety and flashbacks which were in stark contrast to all the smiles and polite head gestures exchanged by everyone. After getting to know the Palestinian participants and as I was getting used to this strange situation and to the simultaneous translation which was constantly whispered in our ears by Ahmed Jafary the skilled translator, that the many tensions bottled inside myself were only just then slightly eased (that particularly pacifying peace-pipe that we jointly smoked certainly didn’t hurt).

All the participants in the project gave chilling testimonies on their encounter-points with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and it was generally felt that all the artists who took part were there not for the sake of apportioning blame but in order to find a starting point for the future – a future without violence, occupation or bloodshed. I will not repeat here the terrible stories that nearly choked me when I heard them, and I will not delve into the details of the traumas, which people on both sides grew up so much so that they seem an almost “natural” and inextricable part of life.

In the website of the Bereaved Families Forum (www.theparentscircle.com ), the objects of this “Narrative Project” are described as follows: “To build trust and empathy, to further mutual understanding between Palestinians and Israelis and to provide tools for recognition and understanding of the national and personal narratives of the other side”.

I think that this is exactly what we did, or at least started doing. Through the honest sharing of our personal narratives, by means of the mutual curiosity and interest of the art created on the other side of the divide, and by identifying with the basic and universal difficulties faced by artists wherever they are, we came closer, feeling our way, trying to get to know each other better. Mostly though, we learnt at close range what perhaps seemed obvious to most of us beforehand, but was better understood in Beit Jalah, namely, that people and their actions are a direct product of their lives’ circumstances.

One of the most interesting parts for me was on Saturday morning, when two professors of history, Eyal Navah and Khalil Baader arrived, and introduced us to chapters from a history book written jointly by them, which describes the two narratives of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the respective viewpoint of the two nations side by side. They spoke about Zionism, the Balfour Declaration, the White Paper, the Holocaust, the Naqba/War of Independence. Each of them told the history as told in their society. The gaps between the national narratives are huge. I was very familiar with the Israeli narrative. Probably my bizarre interest in history since childhood had instilled this “knowledge” in me very well. The Palestinian narrative, on the other hand, was almost entirely new to me. Previously, I never understood their perception of historical events that I assumed I knew so well.

There were incredible moments for me when, for example, I was sitting with a nice Palestinian guy on Friday night for an in-depth chat into the early hours of the freezing night in Beit Jalah, and between exchanges of photographs and stories, on art, politics and anything in between, for a flash I glimpsed at this situation as an observer.
There was I, a former IDF soldier, who was mortally wounded by a suicide-bomber a young Palestinian student, sitting and having a conversation about political art, religion and music, with a young Palestinian student and painter, who some years prior to this, was in an Israeli prison charged with a failed attempt to cause an explosion against Israeli soldiers in Nablus.

I cannot describe what I felt, but it soon turned into a recognition, that he is participating in this project with me today and he wants to encounter other voices in the Israeli society, beyond the ones he already knows, those of soldiers and settlers. And here we are by ourselves, chatting and everything is alright, no one is blown up and the conversation flows, and at times even makes us laugh. The dialogue about art helped me bridge many of the strange moments that passed through my head almost against my will.

One of the most significant things that happened to me on a personal level during this weekend, was that I managed to dissolve to some extent the hard cognitive connection forged in the last decade, between spoken and written Arabic and death and terror. In my mind new associations emerged, between Arabic and good, interesting art, between Arabic and good, interesting people, and between Arabic and people like myself, who are seeking freedom of choice in their profession, creativity, time and life.

I want to summarize and tell you that through this project I met people who are similar to me as far as religion, a wish for secular state for both people and conceptual art are concerned. In fact, in many ways the similarities exceeded the differences. I met people who are interested and willing to co-operate in artistic and social matters, do not believe in boycotts and want to be creative and be active. I hope we will exhibit our art jointly, here in Israel and in Palestine, and in the world. After all, we have much more in common than just a tragic history, a blood-saturated earth and perhaps a few genes.

We are going to meet again in a fortnight in Lifta, a site of a former Palestinian village at the outskirts of Jerusalem, whose inhabitants abandoned during the 1948 war, and I eagerly anticipate this meeting.

I warmly recommend to you to follow the activities of the Bereaved Families Forum and to try and participate in similar project arranged by the Forum in the future.

Omer Golan, 31, a painter and new-media artist. His works are created on the seam-line that combines technology, science, sociology and art. Omer studied new media programming in order to create his new-media works. Using computer, sensors, cameras and unique software that he created, he generates certain rules that help him manipulate the space in which he displays his works and produce dynamic works that react to the audience’s response and transpose passive viewers into participants.

Peace Rally | Union Square, NYC | October 7, 2001 | Photographer Lorna Tychostup

Photography driven by social change. Social change driven by photography.

This is a great organization to help photographers be able to connect with people all over the world and document stories of the people. It is interesting to see how the organization connect viewers to see different photographers’ work and see the stories of different people. The organization not only help professional photographers, but as well as amateurs and students. There are many inspirational stories and photographs that you don’t see everyday.

Change the Truth—Uganda | By Gloria Baker Feinstein for Change the Truth

Photo Philanthropy’s Activist Award

Activist award Submission Open through October 1st!

PhotoPhilanthrophy believes in the power of photography to inspire hope and understanding and to connect people around the world.
Submitted photos must depict the work of a charitable organization (designated by 501c3 in the US, or international equivalent) and be presented as a photo essay. All photographs in the essay must have been taken within the last 3 years.

click here to submit your work, and remember to let us know if you won so we could congratulate you and publish your socially aware artworks right here!

Very interesting post even if you don’t agree with all the points he is making. Posted on April 7, 2004 by Dyske Suematsu, a cultural critique.

Dyske write about the historical roots of the political art as a conceptual art movement that was born in the late 60’s. He share his opinion about the effectiveness of political art, and claim that artists cannot be exempted from the suspicion of having impure motives when dealing with political issues.

“If artists are not required to prove the integrity of their motives, why should anyone else be? If we were to speculate hidden motives of government institutions and private corporations, it is only fair that we also speculate the hidden motives of the artists who criticize them.”

Another question that Dyske have about political art is its effectiveness. He claims that by taking positions as artists, they necessarily distance themselves from the real nitty-gritty of politics, he says that to him, what is interesting is not so much the content, but why they choose to use art as a platform for their fights.

Read the original article by Dyske Suematsu at DYSKE.COM

Depths of Criticism

Chris Jordan’s images are evoking and really brings to a wake up call to what we are doing to our environment, or even ourselves. Every time you zoom in from a large scale image, you realize it is made out of a certain entity.

The artist is using many objects together to create beautiful textures and shapes that represent certain disturbing facts and statistics. The statistics that Jordan provides are astonishing: with the number of paper cups that we use each day, number of prisoners in the states, deaths from smoking, breast augmentation, and many more… It is amazing how us human beings are not aware of all the things we are consuming each day and being so careless to how it will affect our planet or even ourselves. Jordan’s creation in these large scale photographs are to show how unconscious we are of our surrounding and culture.

Chris Jordan’s website:
http://www.chrisjordan.com/

Environment Artist Tanya Preminger

Tanya Preminger’s environmental art is both beautiful and smart. In the past few years Preminger has been very active in the fields of environmental art and land art, striving to connect people to nature, and improve the modern culture’s relationship with the natural world. For this purpose she established the Green Gallery Group, which works in the fields of Arsuf Kedem, displays annually a large collection of environmental art works made from natural materials, and speaks about the human contemporary connection to mother-nature. Her art is usually ephemeral, site-specific, and characterized by simplicity and a healthy sense of humor. The materials vary from Earth, wood, bamboo, plants and tree branches, and agricultural waste.

Tanya Preminger’s website:
http://www.tanyapreminger.com

Superheroes inspired by Islam

In “THE 99,” Naif Al-Mutawa’s new generation of comic book heroes fight more than crime — they smash stereotypes and battle extremism. Named after the 99 attributes of Allah, his characters reinforce positive messages of Islam and cross cultures to create a new moral framework for confronting evil, even teaming up with the Justice League of America.

Wonder How THE 99 Comics Are Created?

It all starts with an idea. Maybe the idea is about a certain character or a type of story that we want to tell. Sometimes, the creator of THE 99 generates the ideas for our stories but other times one of our writers or editors has a story that they’d like to tell or even read! An editor oversees the entire production process of the comic book, from discussing the direction of the story with the creator or publisher to hiring the various artists who will work on the book. Almost all of the people who work on our comic books are freelancers; this means they work from their own home or studio rather than in one of Teshkeel’s offices.
Once an idea has been approved, it slowly takes shape by first becoming a script. A script provides written direction from a writer to the artists who draw the comic book stories. The writer explains what action will take place in each panel and provides the dialogue and sound effects that will accompany that image.

A copy of the script gets sent to the penciler, an artist who adapts the writer’s words into action-filled images. A penciler must be able to draw just about anything from airplanes, buildings and cars to jungles, futuristic machinery and super-powered people with extraordinary abilities. Using a pencil, the penciler draws on a large piece of paper called an art board. Each page is broken down into panels that tell the story sequentially (in order). The penciler uses his drawing abilities to stage the pacing, frame the action and create the mood of the story.

Once the penciler has finished drawing, the pages are sent to the inker. The inker applies black ink to the penciler’s artwork with a pen or brush. This provides the dark lines that are necessary for the printing process. The inker does his best to enhance what the artist has penciled. The inked artwork gets scanned into a computer.

Working from a scan of the inked artwork the colorist provides the color that can add life and mood to the black and white artwork. Our colorists use a computer program called Adobe Photoshop. This program allows them to create a wide range of coloring effects that best enhance the action atmosphere of the story.
While the artwork is being colored, another process is also taking place; again, working from a scan of the artwork, a letterer is creating the speech balloons, captions and sound effects that add to the visual imagery.

When all these processes are complete, a production artist works on the computer to bring each piece together to create a finished computer file that the printer can work from. The editor reviews the files and finally sends them off to the printer.

http://www.the99.org

Welcome to ArtPolitica.

The beautiful painting above is “Massacre in Korea”, a 1951 expressionistic painting composed by Pablo Picasso which is seen as a criticism of American intervention in Korean conflict. Alongside with Guernica, The Charnel House (1944-45), War and Peace (1952), and Rape of the Sabine Women (1962–63) this is one of Picasso’s works that he composed to depicts the politics of his time.

We start this blog because we feel that artists need a place that will allow them to freely present social/political artworks that express their ideas and thoughts. Many of the commercial galleries and museums will not showcase political art, especially if it does not express popular views. Artists also tend to avoid handling politically charged subjects, they don’t want to risk losing a potential sale or exhibition by addressing topics that are too controversial or sensitive.

Our aim is to expose contemporary works of art which express the artists’ political and/or social stance and to evoke public discussions revolving their ideas. We hope that this blog will become a place where you can debate and explore great, meaningful art.

We welcome writers, artists and people with interest that wishes to post to ArtPolitica.
Those who want to contribute to our blog please use the form at the About page to send us a message.
Alternatively, you can email us @ info@artpolitica.com.