VISUALISING RETURN

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Exhibition Dates: 2nd  - 12th December 2021

 

 

Artists: Sliman Mansour, Halima Aziz, Malak Mattar, Hadil Alsafadi, Maher Naji, Safaa Odah, Jasmine Hawamdeh, Mohammad Saba’aneh, Fayez Alhasani, Aya Ghanameh, Imad Abu Shtayyah & Protest Stencil.

 

Curator: Farrah Koutteineh 

 

 

P21 Gallery in partnership with the Palestinian Return Centre are enthralled to present Visualising Return - a unique exhibition envisioning what the innate Palestinian right of return means to Palestinian artists, waiting to return themselves. The exhibition is curated by the Palestinian Return Centre specifically for the gallery and will be open to the public between the 2 and 12 December 2021 in line with all public health regulations.

 

This is the first art exhibition curated by the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC), in its history as an organisation. The Palestinian Return Centre is an independent, non-partisan, organisation committed to advocating for Palestinian refugees, in accordance with the historical, political and legal basis of the right to return. PRC was granted consultative status at the United Nations as a Non-governmental organisation (NGO) in special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), in recognition of its efforts in standing up for Palestinian human rights.

 

The exhibition vividly explores what the concept of returning to Palestine translates into through different mediums, including painting, caricature, sculpture, literature, video and sound. Taking the form of a multi-channel video and sound installation, the exhibition will create an ever immersive experience of cross-generational memory exploration, across times and landscapes. It will connect, inform and engage with the pressing struggle for return, that affects over 7.2 million Palestinian refugees. The exhibition includes all forms of art from Palestinian artists waiting to return, including Sliman Mansour, Halima Aziz, Malak Mattar, Hadil Alsafadi, Maher Naji, Safaa Odah, Jasmine Hawamdeh, Mohammad Saba’aneh, Dalia Elcharbini, & Aya Ghanameh.

 

Visualising Return delves into not only the meaning of return for the Palestinian refugee creatives internally displaced, and those externally exiled in the diaspora, but it will delve into how the right of return is at the very core of the Palestinian struggle, and Palestinian identity. It will impassionately delve into the single most important element of the Palestinian plight, yet internationally overlooked, the right of return. The date of the exhibition falls on the 73rd anniversary of the creation of UN Resolution 194, a resolution that legally outlines the grounds, and calls for the immediate return of all Palestinian refugees. The date of the exhibition was intentionally chosen on the anniversary of UN Resolution 194, as the exhibition intends to emphasise the necessity of granting Palestinian refugees this long overdue human right, as it isn’t only 73 years since the creation of UN Resolution 194, but it has been 73 years of continuous exile, dispossession & displacement.

 

 

NOTES FOR EDITORS

 

Visualising Return

 

The first exhibition curated by the Palestinian Return Centre in its history, and is a unique exhibition envisioning what the innate Palestinian right of return means to Palestinian artists, waiting to return themselves. The exhibition vividly explores what the concept of returning to Palestine translates into through different mediums, including painting, caricature, sculpture, literature, video and sound. Taking the form of a multi-channel video and sound installation, the exhibition will create an ever immersive experience of cross-generational memory exploration, across times and landscapes. It will connect, inform and engage with the pressing struggle for return, that affects over 7.2 million Palestinian refugees.

 

Palestinian Return Centre

 

This is the first art exhibition curated by the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC), in its history as an organisation. The Palestinian Return Centre is an independent, non-partisan, organisation committed to advocating for Palestinian refugees, in accordance with the historical, political and legal basis of the right to return. PRC was granted consultative status at the United Nations as a Non-governmental organisation (NGO) in special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), in recognition of its efforts in standing up for Palestinian human rights.

 

Sliman Mansour

 

Sliman Mansour is one of the most distinguished and renowned artists in Palestine. His style embodies steadfastness in the face of a relentless military occupation. His work —  which has come to symbolize the Palestinian national identity — has inspired generations of Palestinians and international artists and activists alike. His early experiences also presented him with the symbols and images he would later use to preserve and highlight Palestinian identity. By using symbols derived from Palestinian life, culture, history, and tradition, Mansour uniquely illustrates Palestinians’ resolve and connection with their land. His pieces epitomize art as a form of resistance. With orange trees, he represents land lost in the Nakba of 1948. With olive trees, he represents land occupied in 1967. With women wearing traditional embroidered dresses, he represents Palestinian land and the Palestinian revolution. With the landscape of Palestine and its stone terraces, he represents the mark of Palestinian farmers on the land. With images of Jerusalem, and the glistening Dome of the Rock, he represents the Palestinian homeland and the dream of return.

 

For all media enquiries please contact curator Farrah Koutteineh: farrah@prc.org.uk, Tel. +44 20 8453 0919 or P21 Gallery: info@p21.org.uk, Tel. +44 20 7121 6190

 

 


 

Exhibition is supported by Palestine Return Centre and HUB Collective