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Artists Re-Member Palestine in Beirut

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Artists Re-Member Palestine in Beirut ARTISTS RE-MEMBER PALESTINE IN BEIRUT KAMAL BOULLATA Thefollowing article examinesthe work of seven visual artists of the rst generation of Palestinian refugees whose careers unfoldedin Beirut, at the timethe cultural center of the Arabworld and“ the metropolis of Arab modernity.”The two groups of refugee artists—those fromthe camps and those who becamepart of Beirut’s elite artistic scene—produced works verydifferent in approach andspirit, but which all borethe stamp of their experience of Palestine. While examiningthe works of these artists inthe context of their lives, the paper also highlights the sometimes explicit, sometimes hiddenpresence of Palestine. “Rememberingis never a quietact ofintrospection or retro- spection.It is a painful re-membering,a puttingtogether of thedismembered past to make senseof the trauma ofthe present.” Homi K.Bhabha, TheLocation of Culture, (Routledge:London, 1994)p. 215. BEIRUT MAY BE invisible in theworks of Palestinian artistswho livedthere for almost threeconsecutive decades, yet nowhere outside the Lebanese capital could theirart have evolved in theway it did there.Seemingly oblivious to Lebanon’s landscape, thefocal subjectof generations of Lebanese painters, Beirut’s Palestinian artistswere haunted by the experience of their displace- mentand thememory of a birthplace thatwas overnight rendered beyond reach. Thus, theinspiration oftheir art could notwell from theimmediacy oftheir new environment as much asfrom theartist’ s “re-membered”world. Andthough the seven visual artistsselected for this study all had different experiencesprior tosettling in Beirut,and came from differentsocial classes and cultural and demoninational backgrounds, all theirwork seemsto reect the“ puttingtogether of the dismembered past to make senseof the trauma ofthe present.” The rstfour artists discussed here hail from theregion’ s refugeecamps, wherethe majority ofPalestine’s dispossessedrural population foundshelter. Theother three, referred to hereas the Ras Beirutartists, are from Palestine’s KAMAL BOULLATA, an artist whose works are held in numerous public collections, in- cluding thoseof theArab World Institutein Paris, theW orld Bank, theNew York Public Library, and theBritish Museum, has written extensivelyon art. Helivesin the south of France. Journal of Palestine Studies XXXII, no. 4(Summer2003), pages 22–38. ISSN: 0377-919X;online ISSN: 1533-8614. C 2003by the Institute for PalestineStudies. All rights reserved. Sendrequests for permission toreprint to: Rights andPermissions, Universityof California Press, Journals Division, 2000Center St., Ste.303, Berkeley, CA 94704-1223. This content downloaded from 193.54.110.56 on Mon, 12 Feb 2018 16:34:53 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms ARTISTS RE-MEMBER PALESTINE IN BEIRUT 23 urban centers.Though thework ofboth groups is marked bythe Palestinian experience,the language of each isgrounded in adifferentterrain, repre- sentingdifferent political and cultural agendasand addressedto different audiences. Generallyspeaking, theart produced bycamp artistsis gurativeand often reectsthe explicitly narrative imagery popularized bythenationalist rhetoric ofthe time. Theart produced bythe urban refugees,on theother hand, is more experimentaland personal, withany reference to the artist ’s political experiencedeeply buried. Interms of audience, thecamp artistsaddressed themselvesto the common peoplewhose art appreciation wasgoverned by theirpolitical commitment; theaudience of the Ras Beirutartists, on theother hand, was thecity ’scultural elite.And while thecamp artistsremained out- sidersto Lebanon ’sartmovement, the Ras Beirutartists were in itsvanguard. Yet whether gurativeor abstract,populist or personal, theworks created by thePalestinian artistsin Beirutare crucial tounderstanding how Palestinian artsurvived outside its native soil. Moreimportantly, and despitethe differ- encesin approach re ectingthe two major cultural streamsthat fermented in Beirutduring thisperiod, onecontinues to nd afnitiesin theworks of artistsfrom thetwo groups. Itis these af nitiesthat this paper will attemptto elucidate. Through thearticulation ofmemory by each artistwe may come toreadthese af nitiesand detectthe continuity of Palestinian art. 1 BEIRUT AS CULTURAL CAPITAL Beirut’s heyday as “themetropolis ofArab modernity ” beganin 1952 and endedin 1982 –twopivotal datesboth on theregion ’spolitico-historical map and Beirut ’scultural map. Atthe regional level,1952 marked theout- breakof the Egyptian revolution, one of the rstmajor directconsequences ofPalestine ’sfall and an important factor,throughits nationalist and anti- imperialist policies, in thesubsequent coups d ’etat´ in neighboringSyria and Iraq aswell asin thepolitical unrestin Jordan and Lebanon. AtBeirut ’s cultural level,1952 was the year that Suhail Idrisslaunched al-Adaab, a lit- erarymonthly sustained by his own publishing house,which becameover thefollowing threedecades the region ’span-Arab platform fora newform ofnationalist literature.In the visual arts,that same year Nicolas Sursock bequeathedhis residenceto Beirut ’smunicipality tobecome Lebanon ’s rst museum ofcontemporary art, theNicolas Ibrahim Sursock Museum. 2 Within afewyears, galleries sprang up around thecapital todisplay thefreshest work ofthe city ’sartistsas well aswork from all overthe Arab world and evenEurope and theUnited States. 3 Theperiod understudy ends in 1982,when Israel invaded Lebanon, and Beirutbecame the rstArab capital outsidePalestine to fall underIsraeli occupation. Though local resistanceagainst one of theworld ’smostsophisti- catedmilitary machines waslegendary, 1982 marked, asGeorges Corm noted, theend of the era of anti-imperialist strugglein theregion, an erathat had This content downloaded from 193.54.110.56 on Mon, 12 Feb 2018 16:34:53 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 24 JOURNAL OF PALESTINE STUDIES witnessedboth the high mark ofArab nationalism and theburial ofdreams ofArab unity. 4 Andwith this political landmark, thethree decades of Beirut ’s crucial rolein themaking ofmodern Arab culturealso ended.By thetime the peopleof Beirut bid theirthundering farewell to thePalestinian forces,most membersof the Arab intelligentsiawho had made theirhome in Beiruthad long gone,and thePalestinian artistswho remained weresoon dispersed. Beforediscussing the works of Palestinian refugeeartists in Beirut,it is im- portantto casta generallook atthe cultural roleBeirut played over this thirty- yearperiod. This rolecan onlybe understood in contrastto Egypt ’s earlier cultural hegemony.For the century and ahalf precedingthe Egyptian Revo- lution, Cairo had beenthe cultural capital oftheArab world. There,W estern conceptsof modernity were eclectically borrowed, refashioned,and diffused to tanationalized framework. Inwhat was called therenaissance ( al-Nahda) ofArab culture, each borrowedform ofexpression helped de ne the Arab cultural identityby contrast withits European counterpart.The rebirth of the national Selfwas reinforced by the negation of the W esternOther. The neo- classical languagepermeating all eldsof expression was al-Nahda’s com- pensatorydefense against the unceasing invasion ofW esterncultural models. With thefall ofparliamentary governmentsin Egypt,Syria, and Iraq, Beirut becamea sanctuaryand meetingplace forpolitical and cultural dissidents from neighboringArab countriesand an openforum whereall currentsof thoughtfor or against al-Nahda’scultural legacycould bedebated. As the capital ofa countrywhose political systemsought to represent seventeen religious denominations, Beirut ’sbrand ofopenness created the ideal en- vironmentfor becoming amicrocosm ofthe Arab world, embracing all its distinctionsand contradictions. Duringthree eventful decades in which the regionseethed with social and political upheaval, Beirutserved as a light- eningrod forall thepolitical movementserupting in theArab world since Palestine’s fall. Incontrast to Cairo ’sclaim during itscultural heydayto stand as citadel againstW esterncultural importation, Beirut ’sform ofcosmopolitanism dared simultaneouslyto act asthe crucible ofArab nationalism and tobefully open tothe W est.At a timewhen Arabic poetrypublished in Beirutwas witnessing thelanguage ’sgreatestinnovations in more thana century,the city equally recognizedits native poets writing in French, 5 whoseworks came outin literaryperiodicals and publishing housesnot con nedto Arabic. Perhaps theclearest manifestation of the cultural cohabitation ofEast and Westwas Lebanon’sBaalbeck Festival.Launched in 1955,the festival continued to ac- commodate Beirut ’stwoindependent audiences year after year. On onenight Maurice Bejart´ ’sBalletdu XXeme` Siecle` would perform toa full house;on thenext, and in thesame amphitheater, therest of Beirut would applaud Fairuz, Lebanon ’sleading Arabic singer,in aRahbani musical allegorizing the Palestinian resistance. 6 AsEast and Westlived cheek by jowl in Beirut,opinions from theextreme leftto thefar rightwere equally accommodated. Religious sectarianpractice, This content downloaded from 193.54.110.56 on Mon, 12 Feb 2018 16:34:53 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms ARTISTS RE-MEMBER PALESTINE IN BEIRUT 25 Christianor Muslim, thrivedin theshade of secular modesof living. Some heldfast to tradition while othersardently called fora totalbreak with the past. Inthe free-for-all atmosphere that allowed thecon uenceof all different trendsof thought, the politicization ofculturewas seen as inevitable on one sideand anathema
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