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2009-2010
Najib Joe Hakim: Born Among Mirrors
May
14 - June 25, 2010
Georgetown University's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies released an article on Najib Joe Hakim and his upcoming exhibition at The Jerusalem Fund Gallery. Read it here.
Click below to watch a short interview between Curator Dagmar Painter and Najib Joe Hakim.
2008
The
Jerusalem Fund Gallery and the Center for
Contemporary Arab Studies, Georgetown
University present
"Photos
to Develop"
an exhibition of photographs
organized by Natasha
Hamarneh-Hall
Photos to Develop has worked all over the Kingdom of Jordan engaging children from Bedouin communities in a project that allows them to express themselves in a way that they never could before. Thus far, the project has been completed in Bedouin communities outside Amman, in the ancient city of Petra, and in Wadi Rum. By providing children with cameras and enabling them with the skills to use them, they have a voice in how their story is told. They have given us a glimpse into their world and their honesty is evident in every photograph.
Natasha
Hamarneh Hall is a former Fulbright
scholar who conducted fieldwork in Jordan on
educational development in Bedouin communities
which concluded with a
report for governmental organizations involved
in Badia development and
the Jordanian Ministry of Education. She
has worked with various NGOs,
nonprofits, and think tanks on Middle East
issues in the US and abroad
and she is currently a policy analyst
specializing in Middle East
development and foreign policy.
"Harmony"
an exhibition of paintings by Samar Ghattas
View Exhibit
"Simply Children"
Direct from Palestine, Bethlehem artist Samar Ghattas' paintings reflect on the nature of human relationships and the complex meanings of love. The paintings in Harmony use the emotional moments that take place between a couple, such as love, conflict, and jealousy, to represent all relationships on the face of the earth.
Samar Ghattas lives and works
in Bethlehem, where she teaches fine art at
Bethlehem University. Her paintings
combine dreams of escape with the horrors of
war. Trained at The Academy of Fine Arts
in Kiev, Ghattas has exhibited in Palestine,
England, Austria, Germany, Italy, and the
US.
The exhibit
will be on display at the Jerusalem Fund
Gallery from 26 September - 14 November
2008.
The Jerusalem Fund Gallery and The Bead Museum present
"Silver Adornment from Bilad al-Sham"
View Exhibit
Until the 1950s and 1960s hand-crafted silver jewelry and beautifully embroidered costumes were widely worn in Bilad al-Sham, an area that included Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Syria. Now, for the first time, splendid examples of these pieces can be seen at the Jerusalem Fund Gallery. Ellen Benson and Lynn Springer of the Bead Museum organized the exhibit; the items are largely drawn from the David and Marjorie Ransom collection.
A complimentary exhibit drawn from the same
collection, Silver Speaks, closed March 2008
after successful showings at the Arab American
National Museum in Dearborn, the Gibson Gallery
at the State University of New York at Potsdam,
the Jefferson County Historical Society in
Watertown, New York and the Bead Museum in
Washington, DC. Also, the Mingei International
Museum in San Diego displayed seventy-seven
pieces from this collection from April 2006 to
September 2007.
The exhibit
will be on display at the Jerusalem Fund
Gallery from 16 May - 12 September 2008.
"Wall Stories"
New works by Mary Tuma
28 March - 9 May 2008
Wall Stories addresses the concept of borders, barriers and access within a given space. Ironic and humiliating, right of entry exists only as the gift of the oppressor. How does one learn to adjust to the surreality of a massive gray monster that snakes up on every horizon?
Born in California in 1961, Mary Tuma began sewing and crocheting with her mother at an early age. Her love of these processes led her to begin her formal study of art as an apprentice at Beautiful Arts Hall in Kerdassa, Egypt. Later, she earned a BA in Costume and Textile Design from UCDavis and an MFA from the University of Arizona, as well as studying at The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. Mary's work has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the United States and Palestine and has been published in numerous journals, magazines and newspapers. She currently serves as an Associate Professor and the head of the Fibers Program at the University of North Carolina.
The exhibit will be on display at the Jerusalem Fund Gallery from 28 Mar - 09 May 2008.
"Cut Down by the Sky"
Paintings by Zahi Khamis
Born in the Palestinian village of Reineh
outside of Nazareth in 1959,
Zahi
Khamis emigrated to Europe and then to
the United States in his
early twenties. After earning his degree in
Mathematics, and studying
literature extensively, Zahi eventually turned
towards painting as his
primary form of expression. Appearing in
numerous solo shows, group
exhibits, books, and other publications, Zahi's
work is part of a
long tradition of committed art, expressing the
painful, yet luminous,
contradictions of all those who struggle for
liberation.
The exhibit will
be on display at the Jerusalem Fund Gallery
from 28 Mar - 09 May 2008.
2007
"Bethlehem Under Seige: The Decline of Christianity at its Birthplace"
30 November 2007 - 11 January 2008
Photographs by Kike Arnal
In recent decades, the Christian community of Bethlehem has decreased dramatically from around eighty percent of the total population, to less than ten percent today. Since the construction of the Separation Wall, which divides Bethlehem from Jerusalem, and the twenty or so surrounding Israeli settlements, the situation of Bethlehem's Christians has deteriorated such that many of the few remaining Christians, especially the young and educated, consider leaving their country as the only choice for their future. The images presented here tell the stories of individual Christians of Bethlehem and their failing efforts to continue to live in the land of their faith.
KIKE ARNAL is a still photographer and videographer. Originally from Venezuela, Kike has covered stories in the Americas, the Middle East, Asia and Europe. His photographs have been featured in The New York Times, Life, and Mother Jones, among other leading publications. He has directed and produced video documentaries, including Yanomami Malaria, a film for Discovery Channel about a malaria epidemic among scattered populations of indigenous people in a remote area of the northern Amazon. More recently, Kike has been documenting the impact of cluster bombs on the civilian population of south Lebanon.
FUSION
21 September - 2 November 2007
A collection of new paintings by Syrian-American artist
Kinda Hibrawi
This collection
celebrates the romance of the Arabic language.
Words have an energy force that influences our
daily life. Their impact can reshape history
negatively or positively. A hateful word has an
ugly vibration, imprinting a permanently
painful scar. A pleasing word has the reverse
effect. Its inspiring spirit can resonate
within us for years. The fourteen paintings in
this collection celebrate the beauty of the
positive verse. Through the use of color,
movement and text it illustrates a powerful
representation of each word, visually
expressing the great heritage and artistic
traditions of this script.
Of Syrian
descent, Kinda Hibrawi
grew up between Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon,
and the United States. Her formative years in
the Middle East gave her the opportunity to
study the power of the Arabic language in all
of its art forms. Through her studies she began
to expand on the ancient tradition of Arabic
calligraphy by giving it a modern twist. Her
artwork reflects the richness of the Middle
East coupled with Western diversity. She
intertwines East and West and exposes audiences
to this historic art form.
Handala and the Cartoons of Naji Al-Ali
18 May - 31 August 2007
This exhibit is being held in commemoration
of the 20th anniversary of Naji al-Ali's
assassination. The cartoons have been
generously provided by his son, Khalid al-Ali.
The late Palestinian cartoonist, Naji al-Ali,
produced over 40,000 cartoons satirizing the
powers that be in the Middle East.
Emerging from humble beginnings in the refugee
camps, for over 30 years he was an
uncompromising critic of a regressive Arab
political culture and of Western intervention
in Arab affairs. As one of the most
popular artists in the Arab world, he was loved
for his defense of ordinary people and for his
criticism of despotism and repression.
His unrelenting cartoons exposed the brutality
of the Israeli army and earned him many
powerful enemies. He developed a
stark, symbolic style in his work and is
perhaps best known as creator of the character
Handala, who has since become an icon of
Palestinian struggle and steadfastness.
Al-Ali was killed on July 22, 1987 by an
unknown assassin as he left the London offices
of Al Qabbas newspaper.
Dr. Fayeq Oweis is an Arab
American artist and professor of Arabic
Language and Culture at Santa Clara University
in Santa Clara, California. He has a
Ph.D. in interdisciplinary studies with a focus
on Arabic and Islamic arts and has published
extensively and gave numerous presentations on
Arabic Language and Culture, Islamic Arts and
Arabic Calligraphy, and Arab American
Artists. His presentation,
delivered in conjunction with the exhibit, will
explore the relevance, characters and symbols
of Naji al-Ali's work.
Iraqi Portraits
19 January - 2 March, 2007
Athir Shayota
Shayota's portaits of Iraqis living in America are painted without narrative intention. Instead, psychological spaces, placement of figures, and paint application tell the story. The collection begins in the early eighties when Shayota started painting the daily life of the Detroit Chaldean community to which he immigrated in 1980. With the first and second Gulf War, Shayota's work takes on a different mood. Although portrayed with compassion, those depicted reflect the intensifying violent world in which they live. While Shayota creates referential paintings that utilize Western Modernist modes of aesthetic representation, like other contemporary Iraqi artists, his work contains direct references to the historical heritage of Iraq. With the continuation of the artistic heritage of his people, Shayota preserves, reiterates and intensifies the long and rich history of Iraqi visual culture and projects an unwavering sense of resilience.
Athir Shayota's paintings have been featured in solo and group exhibitions in museums, universities and galleries throughout the United States. Shayota was born in 1968 in northern Iraq. He received his Masters of Fine Arts from Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri in 1992 and now resides in New York City.
2006
Jerusalem: Between Visions and Realities
National Juried Exhibition
10 November - 22 December 2006
Rajie Cook | Marianne Smith Dalton | Roger Gaess | Niv Hachlili
Maurice Jacobsen | Michael Keating | Zahi Khamis | Suzanne Klotz
Amelie Porter | Rik Sargent | Layla el-Shair | Sima Zureikat
Every Curve, Every Dot:
The Modern Arabic Calligraphic Designs of Nihad Dukhan
8 September - 27 October 2006
Outside the Ark: An Artist's Journey in Occupied Palestine
paintings by Ellen O'Grady
21 July-25 August 2006
Souvenirs: Memories of Tunis
30 June - 14 July 2006
Dagmar Painter
Independent curator
For this exhibition, Dagmar Painter, former curator of the Jerusalem Fund Gallery, has transformed her recent photographs of Tunis, Tunisia into memories, les souvenirs, and has added layers of reminiscence with the objects, souvenirs of her life there, that have attached themselves to the images as real reminders of the recollections the photographs evoke.
Tarab ~ The Colors of Music
12 May-26 June 2006
Khalil Bendib - Nabila Hilmi - Fayeq Oweis - Helen Zughaib - Afaf Zurayk
Tarab is one of the most important terms in the musical aesthetics of Arab culture. While difficult to translate precisely, tarab refers to a state of heightened emotionality in response to music, often translated as rapture, ecstasy or enchantment, as well as joy or sadness. Using line, color, motion and space, the five artists in this exhibit explore the intersections of music and emotion with the visual image. From the whimsical, color-saturated patterns of Zughaib's precise compositions, to Oweis' calligraphic variations on a theme, to Bendib's nostalgic ceramic tile paintings of Moroccan and Algerian scenes, to the blocks of color and fluid lines of Zurayk's reflective works, to the assertive and rhythmic lines of Hilmi's drawings, the pieces in this show capture the transcendence of music and the mystery of its effects on the human soul.
"Alam Al-Mithal: The World of the Image"
a photography exhibit by Jan Kassay
17 March-25 April 2006
"The Forgotten People: The Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon"
a photography exhibit by Rania Matar
27 January-3 March 2006
2005
The Spirit of Palestine
National
Juried Exhibition
11 November - 31 December 2005
"Capacity to Forgive" Jessica
Sporn
The Subject of Palestine
Curated by Samia Halaby
9 September - 28 October 2005
"The Refugee Camp. 2000" Tayseer Barakat
photographs and text by Palestinian artist Emily Jacir
15 April 2005 - 25 May 2005
Emily Jacir asked fellow Palestinians from around the world, "If I could do anything for you, anywhere in Palestine, what would it be?" Using her American passport to facilitate a freedom of movement unavailable to most Palestinians, Jacir documented her attempts to fulfill these requests. Her journey through loss, daily struggles, and sorrow tells the story of a people confined and prevented from attending to the most basic human needs. Jacir's critically acclaimed project was described by New York Times critic Holland Cotter as "one of the most moving gallery exhibitions I've encountered this season." Kim Levin of the Village Voice said, "Her efforts reverberate with the complexities of fear, longing and travel restrictions. Read every affecting word."
New Beginnings
new
works by Iraqi Artist Leila Kubba
18 February 2005 - 8 April 8 2005
The
Jerusalem Fund Gallery and the Iraqi Cultural
Society invite you to view the exhibit of new
paintings by Iraqi artist, Leila Kubba,
entitled "New Beginnings." Kubba was born
and educated in Iraq. She studied at the
Manchester College of Art and Architecture and
the Corcoran College of Art + Design. She
has exhibited widely in the United States and
across the world. Her works are in public
and private collections, including the Abu
Dhabi Cultural Center, the National Gallery of
Jordan and the British Museum. Her latest
series, inspired by a recent visit to Iraq,
reflects on the uncertainty that lies ahead and
the women who bear the fragments of Iraq's
past, present and future. Read press
coverage of this Jerusalem Fund exhibit:
Interview on NPR's All Things Considered and
New York Times article (22 March 2005). For
more about Leila Kubba, see:
http://www.mideasti.org/articles/doc291.html
http://www.leilakubba.com
http://www.calresco.org/kawash/intro.htm
http://www.strokes-of-genius.com/
http://www.ayagallery.co.uk
Palestine: The
Exodus and the Odyssey
Reproductions of
murals by Ismail and Tamam Shammout
2004
Trees of Hope: Celebrating the Olive Harvest
13 November 2004 - 23 December 2004
"Trees of Hope: Celebrating the Olive Harvest" was a festive celebration of the role that the olive harvest plays in the traditional society and economy of Palestinians. At the exhibit's opening, Palestinian master carver Nimir Rishmawi demonstrated for the first time in the U.S. the artistry of olive wood carving as it is done in Bethlehem. Guests experienced the significance of the harvest through a documentary film and photo exhibit, and enjoyed free tastings of authentic Palestinian olive oil and olives. Traditional Middle Eastern desserts were served, and traditional Palestinian crafts, olive oil, olive soap, olive wood carvings, and various Middle Eastern cook books and music CDs were available for purchase throughout the evening. The event was co-sponsored with Georgetown University's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies.
To view the handout from the exhibit, click here (pdf).
Do you want to set up an olive harvest exhibit at your school or community center? Check out our comprehensive Resource Guide (pdf) with all the tools and information you need for a successful event!
1 October 2004 - 10 November 2004
The Gallery exhibited the paintings of Egyptian artist Mona El-Bayoumi from October 1 - November 10, 2004. The exhibit showcased 43 new pieces reflecting on the consequences of war in the Arab World. Using iconographic imagery, saturated colors, and whimsical subtlety, Bayoumi provided a provocative and unsettling commentary on the human side of the current conflicts, most notably the war in Iraq and the Palestinian struggle for self-determination.
Calligraphy: Objects and Writings, Traditional and Contemporary
21 May 21 2004 - 30 June 2004
Art expert Dagmar Painter curated an exhibition of traditional and contemporary objects and writings.
Teaching Resource! The Jerusalem Fund Gallery has transformed the Calligraphy exhibit into a teaching resource, entitled, "Mightier than the Sword: Calligraphy of the Sixteenth Century Imperial Courts ." Explore this exciting web-based curriculum unit designed to provide a creative and interactive approach to studying many of the major empires that dominated the world stage in the 15th and 16th centuries. Using Islamic calligraphy and culture as an entry point, students learn about seven empires: the Songhay, Saadian, Mughal, Safavid, Ottoman, Ming, Tokugawa Shogunate, and the Hapsburg, from historical, literary and artistic vantage points. The unit is designed for students of World History, Literature, Arts and Mathematics. It addresses national standards for 9th and 10th grade subject areas. To access this curriculum, click here.
Stories My Father Told Me
An Exhibition of New Paintings by Helen Zughaib
02 April-30 April 2004
"Rising before dawn, they lined the edges of the ship, as they sailed into New York Harbor for the very first time." From "Coming to America," a painting with narrative by Helen Zughaib.
Of Exile and Return
Paintings by Zahi Khamis
18 February-March 30, 2004
On view at the Jerusalem Center Gallery through March, the paintings of Galilee born artist Zahi Khamis capture a deep sense of loss, anxiety and yearning for Palestine. His style has been described as follows: "Combining legend with memory, anger with beauty, and abstraction with poetry, Zahi's work offers a colorful map of the collective spirit of resistance." More information about the artist and his images can be found at www.zahiart.com . For a review of this show, click here .
Tunisia: Light of Our Sight
Photographs by Michael J Keating
15 January-17 February
2002
Traditional Embroidery, Dress, and Jewelry
Selections from the collection of Saleem Fahmawi
The rich cultural heritage of Palestine is apparent in the traditional dress, jewelry, and embroidery of the Palestinian people. For more than 25 years, Mr. Saleem Fahmawi, chief of the Palestine and Decolonization Section of the United Nations, has worked to assemble a rare and beautiful collection of textiles and artifacts from Bethlehem, Jenin, Nablus, Gaza, Jericho, and other areas representing the diversity of his native land.
The exhibit was on display until 30 August 2002.