On This Land
Alserkal Arts Foundation x Barjeel Art Foundation x The Palestinian Museum
Concrete | 19 Nov_26 Nov
Tour Timing: 7PM


On This Land originated with the Birzeit-based Palestinian Museum, which had been planning a show on the cultural legacy of Gaza. That exhibition, like much else, has a precarious future.

In this moment of deadlock, collaboration appears to be the most potent antidote. The Palestinian Museum, the Barjeel Art Foundation, and Alserkal Arts Foundation have spirited On This Land to life in two weeks.

This unrehearsed dialogue between modern and contemporary art and photographic archives has dual intent. First, to create a space for informed contemplation: visitors access an unexpected window onto Gaza, prompted to imagine a possible future through the prism of a past made manifest. Second, On This Land harnesses the power of spontaneous collaboration not only to protect what is being silenced, but to generate a triangulated and amplified response.

Suheyla Takesh is the Curator of Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE, where she works on research, curatorial development of exhibitions, and oversees the production of publications. She holds a master’s degree from MIT’s department of History, Theory and Criticism of Architecture and Art, where she was enrolled in the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture. She is the co-curator of Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s–1980s at the Grey Art Gallery, NYU, and the co-editor of the eponymous volume of essays (Hirmer Publishers, 2020). Recent curatorial projects include Lasting Impressions: Baya Mahieddine, co-curated with Alya Al Mulla, and Parallel Histories, both at the Sharjah Art Museum. Her writing has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including Rutgers Art Review (Department of Art History, Rutgers University), Thresholds (MIT Department of Architecture), and Journal of Contemporary Iraq & the Arab World (Intellect).

Artwork credits: Sliman Mansour, October Afternoon, 2011