Exhibition
17 November 2024–8 December 2024
Made Present: Biographies of Artworks Defying the Ongoing Nakba
Exhibition curated by Faris Shomali and Zaina Zarour
Warehouse 50, Project Space
The history of Palestine’s art is commonly portrayed as that of loss, fragmentation, colonial plunder and destruction. This research exhibition presents an alternative historiography—one in which artworks defy attempts of erasure.
Through constellations of artworks, archival material, and field notes, Made Present outlines biographies of artworks that have persevered. It foregrounds the extensive history of artists going to great lengths, sometimes risking their own lives, to make their works present.
Opening 7.30pm | 17 - 24 November
Project Space WH50
Artist Janette Sarraf Farah and Yahya Yakhlef the Palestinian minister of culture at the time at Sarraf-Farah's exhibition opening in Rashad Shawa Cultural Center in Gaza, 1995. Courtesy of the Farah family.jpg
Marika Gaitanopoulou Thorogood in her studio in Jerusalem, circa 1940s. Courtesy of the Thorogood family
Back of Laila Shawa’s painting. Gaza, 1965. Oil on canvas. Courtesy of Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah.jpg
Artist Mohammed Al-Hawajri organizing paintings retrieved from his destroyed house and studio in Bureij Refugee Camp in Gaza, 2024. Courtesy of Dina Matter and the artist.jpeg