For my non-western art exhibit, I have chosen art created during the Palestinian genocide. Most/all of the art in this blog was created by individuals outside of Palestine, because it's kind of hard to create art while there's an active genocide being committed against you. All of my art will be from different creators on Instagram, because I'd rather get the artworks directly from their artists rather than some random website. I had the idea of of choosing artworks from various not well recognized countries, but the assignment I'm doing this blog for requires only a single country and time frame, so I chose the ill-recognized country that's gained the most traction in media recently; Palestine.
The second piece of art chosen for this exhibit was posted to Instagram on Land Day (March 30th) of 2024 by Nour Ziada. This artwork shows a woman clinging to what is likely an olive tree. The painting seems almost incomplete, there's very little land, and the woman is being dragged off into the nothingness. I believe this is all very intentional and symbolic, It represents the Palestinian people being torn from their land, which they protested by planting olive trees to affirm their connection to the land, hence the anniversary being called Land Day. In response to the planting of olive trees, the Israeli government murdered 6 protesters and injured hundreds more.
My last piece of art was posted on December 3rd 2024 by Safia Latif. It shows a young child planting or tending to a small tree, while the background shows a city enveloped in nuclear hellfire. I think this painting looks pretty cool, it's not as impactful to me as the other two because bright colors tend to not represent horribly depressing topics, so it's not setting off the "this art is sad" alarms in my head. This art was created in regards to Palestine, but its a scene that could apply to many cultures. The entire world is under nuclear threat, it's an omnipresent issue, but Palestine is especially under threat because the government committing a genocide against Palestine has access to nuclear weapons, and multiple representatives of that government have mentioned using nuclear weapons.
Sources
Instagram "@_byusu" Mar 7 2024
Instagram "@palestinianartists"
Instagram "@nour_archive"
Instagram "@safialatifpaintings"
Al Jazeera "Land Day: What happened in Palestine in 1976?" Apr 1 2024
Associated Press "China, Iran, Arab nations condemn Israeli minister’s statement about dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza" Nov 13 2023
Quite opposite of your emotional reaction, I found the last work you exhibited, posted by Safia Latif, to be the most saddening of all. When a child is subjected to such horrifying conditions, such as genocide, it becomes all they know. Here we see this young boy knelt over, and looks to be tending to this tree. He seems oblivious to the danger and destruction in the distance and this gives me the impression that he has become all too accustomed to it. Children are so resilient, but when they have to be because they have no other choice, is when it becomes heartbreaking . This picture is very emotionally charged and sends a strong message about the innocent and vulnerable lives that are being affected.
ReplyDeleteGreat selection of art and period to convey a real event that has much importance to people in the world today. I appreciate your thoughtfulness of reaching the artist directly by using their social media to gain access to their art. I respond the most to Ziada's painting, I think that its thoughtful composition and use of negative space creates a very strong underlying narrative. The other two pieces you have included are very blunt in their message, but this piece much more subtle while still being incredibly moving. The lack of leaves forces the viewer to think about what should be there creating an idea that the leaves have been torn away leaving the tree barren and fruitless. The woman gripping the tree being dragged away seems to represent the human side of this, that the destruction in palestine is tearing away the culture and lives of so many, but it also has impacts on many generations because of the now infertile and destroyed land.
ReplyDeleteAwesome selection you picked. I enjoyed reading more about the artist. It’s super cool you got them off social media . This topic is so important and the last painting you selected is so strong and powerful. No one could look at that picture and not feel all sorts of emotions.
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