Tabari Artspace is delighted to announce its participation in Abu Dhabi Art with the dual exhibition of Palestinian visual artists Hazem Harb and Mohammed Joha and Jordanian design duo naqsh collective.
Joha will exhibit two works under his Fabric of Identity series which sees mixed collages on paper, created from fabric, cardboard and paper relay themes of displacement, cultural malaise, dystopia, and identity that have arisen from the Palestine-Israel conflict. Together the artists share an insider’s gaze, proposing differ-ent yet symbiotic approaches to the topic, shining a light on the lesser known realities of Gaza.
The exhibition not only goes some way to highlight the limiting conditions enforced upon those that were displaced but also heightens the gap between the Palestine of the past and the reality of the now. While Joha’s works are reflective of Palestine’s contemporary climate Hazem Harb takes a research-driven approach to interrogate his country’s past and its place in the world today. Moving beyond the limitations of verbal language and photojournalism Harb forms collages that examine the nuances and issues surround-ing shifting borders, displacement and diaspora, the past and the present - topics that continue to captivate and resonate with the global eye.
On display are a several new bodies of work by Harb marking a fresh direction for the artist who regularly pushes the boundaries of his practice through experimentation with new materials and technique. Hollyland (pictured) is a particularly poignant large-scale piece that sees acrylic lettering layered over an archival photograph of the promised land - a pastiche upon celebrity and consumer culture and our contemporary priorities. For Eternal Map the artist traces white, red and green strings over a 1930s photograph of agri-cultural workers to form the twists and turns of his country’s map in the traditional colours, underscoringPalestine’s existence. In a new turn, Harb’s highly charged Temporary Monuments installation unites photography detailing the 1948 Nakba with a wooden suitcase box, and canvas from a refugee tent - a combination that sings loud in our time of mass migration - the same humanistic follies, it seems, continue to play out 70-years on.
