Nahil Bishara’s Jerusalem

Nahil Bishara resisted static definitions. She navigated beyond the rigid dichotomy of arts and crafts, traversing mediums, materials, and techniques. Labels such as sculptor, painter, and designer fall short to grasp the nuances of her creative labor.

Known for her depictions of bucolic quotidian life—like The Watermelon Farmer (1956) exhibited in On this Land—Bishara has a body of artwork spanning expressionist flora canvases, colorful hand-made glass plates inlaid with calligraphy, well-thought-of interior designs, and even a commissioned sculpture of Pope Paul VI. Yet, Jerusalem also recognizes her for a multifaceted masterpiece—a hotel.

In the early 1960s, Bishara stepped forward to redesign the interior of Aelia Capitolina, a hotel run by the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in Jerusalem. The venture carried substantial weight, as artist and art historian Kamal Boullata notes, “entirely realized by local craftspeople, [it] was the first of its kind attempted by a native Arab for a public space in Jerusalem.”[1]

Tapping into her deep knowledge of the history of Palestine’s arts and crafts, Bishara’s designs pay tribute to local aesthetic principles, techniques, and materials. She left no room for arbitrariness in her design—from chandeliers and lamps to lounge, wood furniture, and art. She even graced the hotel’s room with her own paintings.

With very few exceptions, Bishara’s designs were sourced from local artisans, including students of the YMCA Vocational Training Center in Jericho. Her design was an exercise in what Palestinian autonomy might look like—indexical of Palestinian liberation.[2]

This was more than a mere interior design project. To be fully appreciated, it is perhaps fitting that one views it as a community-based performance. One that mobilizes various forms of arts and crafts—including painting, ceramics, murals, glass blowing, calligraphy, brass and copper engraving, as well as the art of hospitality—all to assert the Palestinianness of Jerusalem.

[1] Kamal Boullata, Palestinian Art: 1850–2005 (London: Saqi, 2009), 88.

[2] Christina H. Jones, The Story of a Tent: A New Beginning and How a Challenge Was Met—The Y.M.C.A. Jerusalem in Jordan (Jerusalem: Y.M.C.A., 1965).