Seeing Palestine Through Artists' Eyes

“In her absence I created her image,” writes Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. And that’s exactly what these artists did in How Green Was My Valley, an exhibition that brings together a generation haunted and inspired by a broken Palestinian landscape. Last night, I headed down to the opening at WhiteBox Art Center on the Lower East Side to check out the show, curated by Mary Evangelista, the director of ArtPalestine International.

The show, which was funded by a Kickstarter campaign, presents the work of fifteen artists including Haitham Ennasr, Mary Tuma, and OC’s own Joseph Audeh from Jordan, Hebron, Gaza, Israel, California, and Brooklyn using a variety of media including photography, sculpture, video and installation art.

Displacement, fragmentary existence, a sense of homelessness, and love transformed into a codified exchange were themes of the show. On one wall hung a lush photograph of an orange tree pierced by a metal bolt. In the back of the gallery a spinning, translucent cylinder hung from the ceiling that you could walk inside, emulating the anxiety-inducing experience of a military checkpoint.

Much of the artwork highlighted the quiet, in-between moments of Palestinian life––a photograph of a white van filled with rainbow birthday balloons barreling down a coastal highway––and the persistent sense of waiting that plagues many Palestinians with no answers in sight. Still, a current of possibility and excitement ran through the show. The event had a huge turnout, reinforcing Palestinians' sense of community and identity even amid the tumultuous political reality.