“a system which starts at the heart”
On the 1st of December 2024 artist fundraiser hosted a public programme curated by Nabila Abdel Nabi and Rahila Haque.
The programme’s title, “a system which starts at the heart”, is an excerpt from Etel Adnan’s epic poem The Arab Apocalypse (1980), written between 1975 and 1980 against the backdrop of escalating violence in Lebanon. Adnan grounds us in a world consuming itself before its greatest witness: a solar force that will arguably outlive humankind, but which also lives within each and every one of us, bound by empathy, rage, grief and hope.
Sunday’s programme served as a moment for us to reflect, connect and consider what more we can do as a community to support humanitarian and liberatory causes.
Please see details of the events below and continue to follow these artists and their work.
The Gaza Reader
The Gaza Reader is a collaboration between Bidoun, Artists Against Apartheid, Writers Against the War on Gaza (WAWOG), and the Kamel Lazaar Foundation. Inviting artists and writers for a collective poetry reading. Sunday’s session included readings from Lubna Chowdhary, Oreet Ashery, Zeina Durra, Emily LaBarge, Rosalind Nashashibi, Florence Peake, Aura Satz, Tai Shani, John Smith, Jane and Louise Wilson.
The Gaza Reader: Volume 1 includes poems by Maya Abu Al Hayat, Zaina Alsous, Fady Joudah, Mahmoud Darwish, Mosab Abu Toha, Naomi Shihab Nye, Hala Alyan, Mohammed El Kurd, Carolina Ebeid, Noor Hindi, Refaat Alareer, Etel Adnan, Eileen Myles, and many more. The reader is illustrated with drawings from artists Aml El Nakhala, Hazem Harb, and Adel El Taweel.
The Reader was launched in April during the Venice Biennale as an act of solidarity. It has since had multiple lives in cities around the world — San Francisco, Tunis, and Palermo among them.
Participatory performance with
Bint Mbareh
Bint Mbareh is a sound researcher with a focus on water in Palestine. Her interest in the physical parallel between the water wave and the sound wave leads her into questions of border dissolutions (between bodies, between states, between tenses), and into the possibility of being enveloped by the voice, by sounding communally similarly to being enveloped by a water body. She challenges Settler colonial epistemology by taking seriously Palestinian ways of knowing, from rain-summoning music to shrine pilgrimage as an instigator to political revolution.
Her initiation into music came through her research on rain-summoning in Palestine. She conducted research initially to combat the myth of water scarcity pushed by Israeli settler colonialism. She learned that the songs that helped communities summon and harness rain, at their core helped people build a relationship with their environment, decide what time of year it is, communally determine how to share resources fairly, and that when used in current life, these uses could still be evoked, rather than remembered.
For Sunday’s event Bint Mbareh guided the group through a series of choral singing excerises. The communal use of voice relieved tension, shame and fear as we were invited to open our ears and voice. Different parts of the group read different parts of a poem, enacting parts of the rhythm, pitch and volume, where one part of the group would echo another or join another.
You can follow Bint Mbareh’s work here.
Artists’ discussion
Organising artists Rana Begum, Sonia Boyce, and contributing artists Rosalind Nashashibi and Sara Naim in conversation with curators Nabila Abdel Nabi and Rahila Haque.
The discussion focused on the role of artists and solidarity in supporting humanitarian and liberatory causes. We spoke about the importance of speaking about the situation in Palestine as artists and curators, and the challenges and opportunities of working within and outside an institution as an means of connecting and using our voice. How the fundraiser came about, what lessons we learnt and what more we could do through our work and networks.
Screenings curated by Fana’ Collective
Fana’ is a collective based in Ramallah, Palestine. The name comes from multiple roots in the Arabic language, one being the annihilation of the self or the re-birth of the new self in Sufism. They aim to deconstruct and deproduce truth in social, philosophical and cultural activity. They wish to uncover the processes in which ‘things’ are created or uncreated rather than only posing the end product of these ‘things’.
As part of the public programme they selected five films from Palestinian artists Mahmoud AlHaj, Moayad Abu Ammouna, Mustafa Abu Ali, Shereen Abdelkareem.
Control Anatomy, 2023, 17 mins | Mahmoud AlHaj
Through a blend of powerful imagery, archival, and historical materials, Mahmoud's voice takes us on a decades-long journey exploring the transformation of the tools of war and their relationship to ethics, memory, technology, and the violence inflicted on the Palestinian people. The film touches on three generations of violence, corresponding to different historical moments, revealing the invisible distortion of violence that unfolds over an extended period.
Mahmoud Alhaj, born in 1990, is a visual artist and arts educator who was based in Gaza. Holding a BA in journalism, he has taught visual arts at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society since 2017. Mahmoud has completed artistic residencies at institutions including Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, the Royal Spanish Academy in Rome, and the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. His solo exhibitions include "Violence 24/7" at Uxval Gochez Gallery in Barcelona (2024) and "402 Of Gray" at Shababeek Gallery in Gaza (2021). He has produced six projects spanning photography, digital art, and video, showcased extensively in Palestine, Europe, and the United States. His short experimental film "The Right to See" was featured at the 35th Festival Les Instants Video in Marseille (2022) and the Cairo Video Festival (2021), alongside a duo exhibition titled "The Right to See" at Plaatsmaken studio in the Netherlands in collaboration with Rob Voerman. Mahmoud has participated in various collective exhibitions, including "Fenced Off" by ICRC (2022), "ART NOW" at Gallery One (2021), "Art in Isolation" at the Middle East Institute in Washington (2020), "Contemplative Contrasts" by A.M. Qattan Foundation, and "Orient 2.0" at Pulchri Studio in the Netherlands (2017).
The most dangerous city in the world, 2020, 2.4 mins | Moayad Abu Ammouna
Palestinian refugee camps are in a constant state of transformation, engaging in an ongoing dialogue with their inhabitants. This dynamic exchange is vividly reflected in the camps' evolving visual character. Despite the passage of time, which threatens to erase their history, these camps persist in their metamorphosis. This short film documents and reflects on Al-Shati Camp in Gaza, tracing its history and capturing the essence of its enduring story.
Disappearance and survival, 2020, 2.4 mins | Moayad Abu Ammouna
This short film explores the contrasting facets of Gaza, a city that withstands relentless attempts at destruction. Despite these challenges, Gaza remains resilient, thriving amidst its contradictions.
Moayed, a Palestinian refugee, was born in Gaza City, Palestine. He holds a bachelor's degree in media (radio and television) from Al-Aqsa University, Palestine. He is a visual artist, screenwriter, filmmaker, and a storyteller, whose work spans experimental visual production, video art, and fiction. Moayed has produced numerous artistic projects, most notably "Struggle," "Broadcast," and "Between Gaza and My Eyes." He also produced a short documentary series titled "Ta'arikh." His work often explores themes of land and identity, uprooting, refugees, and the collective memory of the population, with a strong focus on human rights. Through his art, Moayed addresses the challenges he has faced in his life and examines how individuals can find a natural way of living and achieve their full rights. He believes that art is not just a profession but a way of life. Moayed has exhibited and participated in many prominent exhibitions and art and film festivals both locally and internationally.
Scenes From Under Occupation in Gaza, 1973, 11 mins | Mustafa Abu Ali
An exceptional film by filmmaker Mustafa Abu Ali (1940 - 2009), one of the pioneers of the Palestine Film Unit and a key figure in the Palestinian revolution. Captured by a French news team, the footage was meticulously edited by Mustafa in Lebanon, resulting in one of the earliest films depicting the occupied territory in Gaza. This cinematic masterpiece stands as the sole creation of the Palestine Cinema Group, later evolving into the esteemed Palestine Cinema Institute in 1974. The film explores the political landscape of the occupied territories in Gaza and Palestine, providing a distinctive perspective on the significance of armed resistance in the face of the occupier.
From the eye of the needle, 2022, 4 mins | Shereen Abdelkareem
“Through a Needle Hole” explores the unique social, cultural, and political landscape of Gaza City, shaped by over 15 years of an ongoing blockade. Every urban space has its distinct identity, influenced by external and internal factors, and Gaza’s is particularly marked by imposed and extraordinary conditions. Through four conceptual scenes, the film documents and simulates the evolving narrative of the city, presenting its struggles: “Men in the Sun” examines the blockade through the lens of the Rafah crossing; “Faded Image” highlights the pervasive issue of unemployment; “Under Fire” addresses the relentless impact of repeated aggression; and “Security Rejection” ventures into the challenges of restricted travel and movement. These scenes are crafted artistically and architecturally to reflect the layered visual and emotional landscape of Gaza, offering a poignant study of life under extraordinary circumstances.
Shereen Abedelkareem Hasanin was born in Gaza City in 1996. She is a visual artist and architect with a degree from the Islamic University of Gaza (IUG). Through her work, Abedelkareem navigates the metaverse, where she customizes digital presences, explores real-world applications using advanced tools, and connects users, creators, and businesses within the virtual 3D world. Her journey began with self-learning and various experiments in architecture and art in her own studio, followed by participation in several programs and training courses in contemporary art.