Presenting the exhibition "Faces from Erased Places" for John Halaka as part of the 70th commemoration of the Nakba is a complicated emotional experience. The commemoration of the Nakba is a mournful remembrance of the beginning of the great catastrophe that displaced the Palestinians in great numbers from their ancestral lands, undermined their relationships to their cultural histories and traditions, and devastated the complex and carefully interlaced fabric of family, clan and religious affiliations that shaped Palestine’s once thriving, diverse and ancient culture. However, the 70th commemoration of the Nakba must also be seen as a celebration of the survival of the Palestinians, who have repeatedly proven that they are an indigenous people who refuse to be erased from history and are not willing to be swept away by an ongoing ethnic cleansing campaign that started over seventy years ago.
The artwork in the exhibition honors the memories, experiences and the cultural survival of four generations of Palestinian men and women who have been geographically divided as a people, but are psychologically united in their political and national struggle. The photographic images are inspired by the perseverance and dignity of the Palestinians’ resistance, and are part of a larger project that includes drawings, photographs, an oral history archive, documentary films and writings.
“FACES FROM ERASED PLACES”
For John Halaka
Exhibition Openning
Thursday, May 10th 2018, from 18:00 – 20:00
Palestinian Art Court - alHoash
Your attendance will be our pleasure