Palestinian/German artist Anis Hamadehworking on his new Liverpool series.
With the emphasis on the horrors of life in Palestine over the past century, what has been forgotten is the artistic expression and vital vibrant art of these amazing people. The event now referred to as Nakhba in 1948, gave Palestinian more depth, a different focus, and a unifying message shared by all Palestinians, no matter where in the world they now reside. This message of determination and hope is for the
SURVIVAL OF THE PALESTINE PEOPLE AND
RETURN OF THEIR RIGHT TO LIVE AGAIN
ON THEIR OWN SOIL FREE OF OPPRESSION.
RETURN OF THEIR RIGHT TO LIVE AGAIN
ON THEIR OWN SOIL FREE OF OPPRESSION.
To remember the past there are many great artists who have and do create vital paintings of traditional Palestinian culture, keeping the memories alive so that they are not lost to history. These powerful beautiful works, sold around the world, teaches others of the peaceful pastoral life currently being decimated and stolen by the aggressors and Occupation to be replaced with trials, tribulations and deprivations of the worst sort. So such art is very important.
Also born as a result of Naqba and the Occupation was the extremely potent and viable Resistance Art that keeps these amazing people strong; it also reminds the world constantly of what is being done by the dark forces of Zion. There are many great resistance artists in the world today, notably Carlos Latuff and Ben Heine, both dearly loved and highly regarded in Palestine. But people often do not see the art of the local Palestinians because they have not access to the same international resources to get their work out. I have been using Latuff and Heine for years in my blogging. See my PALESTINE ~ GUERNICA for a small taste of Palestinian resistance art.
The brilliantly coloured work of the following artist, Anis Hamadeh. caught my eye a few days ago and completely captivated me. Anis is an internationally famous artist of German/Palestinian lineage. His work is like nothing else I have ever seen and I advise you to see these pieces in their full glory by enlarging the thumbs. There is NO comparison once they are larger, the detail is just amazing. Included are his Twelve Palestinian drawings as well as other works he has done. I particularly enjoy his piece of the CodePink activist confronting Condoleezza Rice and the interview to which I provide a link. Anis Online Art Club is a good site to see more of his work. with text in German, French, Arabian or English.
Harvesting olive pickers, melon sellers, a monastery, the Via Dolorosa, a water mill, a traditional soap factory, fishermen from the Sea of Galilee ~ the twelve exhibits the"Before their Diaspora" series shine in glossy colors. The 42 cm x 29,5 cm drawings trace back to photos from a richly annotated illustrated book of the same title. Internationally noted Palestinian historian, Professor Walid Khalidi, created this book to document the everyday life and the history of the Palestinians from 1876 until 1948.
"I wanted to bring new colour to the black-and-white shots, so I used shining Copic Markers to resurrect them," Anis said in an interview with the British newspaper Metro. Until today the Palestinian refugees are the largest group of refugees in the world, now with more than five million people concerned. On the second drawing one can see how locals in Jaffa were literally driven into the sea. "The media often talk about Arabs wanting to drive the Jews into the sea. The only photo on the subject shows exactly the opposite case, this is why I chose the motif", explains Anis whose father was born in the West Bank.
All subtext to the Diaspora paintings are from the book "Before their Diaspora" by Walid Khalidi.
Anis says he kept thinking of the Jerusalem photo and wondered how it would look if he infused it with colour and glory. The photos seemed dead and far away to him and he wanted to breath life into them, make them sing to the eyes. So he set to task on the Jerusalem photo and a week later had the results you now see. Again I remind you to PLEASE enlarge the thumbs to become enthralled by these beautiful pieces of art.
VIA DOLOROSA (DIN A3) © Anis 2007in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, Jerusalem."
FISHERMEN of the Sea of Galilee (DIN A3) © Anis 2007 
MONASTERY (DIN A3) © Anis 2007 "The Christian monastery of Mar Saba, commemorating a Byzantine
ascetic of this name who died in A.D. 531. The monastery is located
in the wilderness southeast of Jerusalem. Mar is the Arabic word
for "saint". Many Palestinian Muslim shrines
honor Hebrew prophets and Christian saints."
SOAP FACTORY IN NABLUS (DIN A3) © Anis 2007"The ancient craft of soapmaking ... Palestinian traditional industries,
particularly the production of edible oil and the manufacture of soap,
were vigorous, and Palestinians were increasingly active in
the tobacco, textile, wood products, cement, and paper industries."
COURTYARD OF IBRAHIMI MOSQUE (DIN A3) © Anis 2007"Muslim dignitaries conferring in the courtyard of the Ibrahimi
(Abraham) Mosque, Hebron, 1947. The mayor of Hebron,
Shaikh Muhammad Ali al-Ja'bari, is on the right."
MELONS (DIN A3) © Anis 2007"Palestinian Agricultural Production: Contrary to prevailing opinion
in the Western world, the Palestinians were responsible for the bulk of
agricultural production in the country during the British Mandate.
Melons: of 125.979 dunams planted with melons, the Palestinians owned
and cultivated 120.304 dunams."
(one dunam = one thousand square meters)
OLIVES (DIN A3) © Anis 2008
"Palestinian Agricultural Production: Contrary to prevailing opinion
in the Western world, the Palestinians were responsible for the bulk of
agricultural production in the country during the British Mandate.
Olives: of 600.133 dunams, 99 percent was
Palestinian-owned and cultivated.
" (one dunam = one thousand square meters)
EASTER IN JERUSALEM (DIN A3) © Anis 2008"Christian Orthodox procession on Easter Day (note the lighted candles)
from the Greek Patriarchate to the Holy Sepulchre
WATER MILL (on the Auja River near Jaffa) (DIN A3) © Anis 2008
in the Western world, the Palestinians were responsible for the bulk of
agricultural production in the country during the British Mandate.
Olives: of 600.133 dunams, 99 percent was
Palestinian-owned and cultivated.
" (one dunam = one thousand square meters)
from the Greek Patriarchate to the Holy Sepulchre
in the Old City of Jerusalem, ca. 1910."
WATER MILL (on the Auja River near Jaffa) (DIN A3) © Anis 2008
INTO THE SEA (DIN A3) © Anis 2008 "Palestinians driven into the sea at Jaffa Harbor, late April 1948.
With the land routes cut off by the Haganah, tens of thousands
of the citizens of Jaffa and neighboring villages fled by boat to Gaza
and Egypt; scores were drowned. Jaffa was to have been the main port
of the Palestinian state envisioned in the UN partition
recommendation of 29 November 1947."
NAHR AL-BARID (DIN A3) © Anis 2008 "A typical Palestinian refugee camp at Nahr al-Barid in
northern Lebanon, winter 1948."
Background: "The First Palestinian Diaspora. By 15 May 1948
hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees from scores
of Palestinian towns and hundreds of Palestinian villages
had been scattered to the four winds in the neighboring Arab
countries. On 5 June 1948 David Ben-Gurion wrote in his diary:
'We must make immediate preparations for settlement of
the abandoned villages with the assistance of the Jewish National Fund.'"
THE CODE PINK PAINTING/INTERVIEW
CODEPINK is a women's initiated grassroots organization dedicated to ending the war in Iraq and preventing war in Iran. Personally, I am a huge supporter of CODEPINK. Their methods are peaceful, outrageous, brave, dangerous, effective, outspoken, controversial, ethical, educational and most important of all ~ PASSIONATE , all of which are beautifully captured in the photo below. The reptilian chill of war criminal Rice has rarely been more starkly contrasted against the raw passion of a brave peace lover.
On October 24, 2007, CODEPINK activist Desiree Fairooz walked up to Condoleezza Rice during a Congressional hearing and displayed her hands covered in a blood-like liquid. She yelled "war criminal" as Ms. Rice prepared to testify and was dragged out of the room by the police. The pictures and story went all over the world. See video, photos and read news stories here: www.codepink4peace.org/article.php?id=3587
THE FREE GAZA ART FESTIVAL SERIES
AND MISCELLANEOUS PIECES
AND MISCELLANEOUS PIECES
FREE GAZA (DIN A3) © Anis 2008 
FREE GAZA 2 (DIN A3) © Anis 2008
FREE GAZA 03 (DIN A3) © Anis 2009 
FREE GAZA 04 (DIN A3) © Anis 2009
Fishermen of Galilee
Tuareg
The Lion and the Lamb
LIVERPOOL CAPITAL OF CULTURE 2008
LIVERPOOL (1): OTTERSPOOL (DIN A3) © Anis 2008
LIVERPOOL (2): CHINESE GATE (DIN A3) © Anis 2008
LIVERPOOL (04) (DIN A3) © Anis 2009
Cheers Barbara, just popped in to see what you were doing:) Lovely palestinian artwork and great post!! Good of you to point this out, we forget about so many things as the genocide and holding Israel accountable tends to be the main focus. So thanks for showing this side of Palestinian life:)
ReplyDeleteall the best