ArtZone Palestine Amplifies Palestinian Voices

Amidst the seemingly neverending destruction and devastation in Gaza, the MENA art world - and generally many artists across the world - have not been shy about amplifying Palestinian voices. A number of exhibitions and fundraisers have popped us across the world, all with the aim of drawing attention to the crisis in Gaza. Most recently, a new art platform has all been formed - Artzone Palestine - an independent digital cultural platform that seeks to explore the evolution of Palestinian visual art. It focuses on marginalized works and experiences, whether excluded by the dominant cultural and artistic framework or erased, destroyed, or stolen in the context of colonial occupation and its continuous aggressions, with the aim of retrieving and restoring their deliberately lost existence

“In recent years, we have witnessed a decline in the engagement of cultural and artistic institutions with the field of visual arts in Palestine, particularly in creating opportunities to showcase new works, especially those of young and emerging artists”, says Artzone Palestine, who we interviewed recently, “This has limited exposure to such experiments and confined most of them to commercial galleries. Compounding this issue is the scarcity of cultural platforms that generate critical writing on Palestinian visual arts. From this context, the idea of establishing the platform was born, with its core mission being to highlight alternative artistic practices and foster dialogue around questions related to the dynamics of center and margin. With the outbreak of the genocidal war on Gaza, we realized that the platform could also serve as a space to shed light on the visual arts scene in Gaza and the devastation it endures, which has destroyed the artistic achievements of dozens of artists. It was in this spirit that the DNA ongoing artistic demonstration was conceived, marking the platform’s true launch.”

ArtZone Palestine has curated two exhibitions so far, one promoting the work of Marwan Nassar, and the other - "DNA", a demonstration documenting and presenting more than 1,200 images of original artworks destroyed during the war in Gaza, while also producing critical writing on many of these works in an effort to grant these works new lives. Not only is the platform promoting Palestinian art, but it has a particular emphasis on art from Gaza, a place that is not often credited with its artistic talent given the current situation. “Presenting these works on the platform creates opportunities for engagement with them and holds on to forms of life that have been subject to erasure and annihilation in Gaza for nearly two years”, says ArtZone Palestine, “The DNA demonstration has thus become a refuge for artists seeking a safe space for the images of their works lost amid this devastating war.” Meanwhile, the digital exhibition that has been created for Gazan artist Marwan Nassar, focuses on how his artistic practice transformed during the war, showcasing around 300 works.

ArtZone Palestine is still a relatively new platform - not yet a year old - but it has ambitious plans for the future. Beyond its artistic aims, the platform’s main hope is for the war in Gaza to end, and for Gaza’s artists, cultural workers, artworks, and artistic heritage to be safe. “This war will have profound effects on Palestinian identity and culture for many years to come. There is no doubt that the genocidal war on Gaza will leave profound effects and bring about deep transformations in Palestinian visual arts, changes that will take time to unfold. We will be committed to contributing to the observation of these transformations, which will inevitably place Palestinian art in a new position: one that restores its strong connection with people and the broader context, while developing new and inspiring vocabularies and aesthetics capable of addressing the complexities of reality and its questions, and carrying the aspirations of the people for freedom and a better future. We hope that the Palestinian art will renew its energy and visions, to secure a stronger and more meaningful presence both locally and universally.”