Patriothall Gallery at WASPS – Return of the Soul: The Nakbah Project
WASPS Studios, 1d Patriothall, Edinburgh, EH3 5AY. 0131 226 7126Return of the Soul: The Nakbah Project
“I was first moved by several visits to a concentration camp in Poland, which led me to explore the Jewish narrative, and examine the brutal consequences of the dreadful tragedy of the Holocaust. Israel’s new historians, such as Ilan Pappe, have exposed the ethnic cleansing master plan executed in 1948 to drive Palestinians into exile through massacre, rape, and both violent and psychological warfare. In working with Palestinians, I was humbled by the nobility of many people who, despite being denied dignity and enduring traumatized lives in squalid refugee camps, cling to the hope after 60 years that the right of return, once guaranteed under international law, will be honoured.” - Jane Frere
Scottish artist Jane Frere was offered a residency with Al Hoash Gallery in East Jerusalem for eight months in order to undertake the Return of the Soul the Nakbah Project in the occupied Palestinian Territories of the West Bank, and in refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon. Living in and out of the camps, she worked with Palestinian artists and young people to construct this massive sculptural installation, and recorded the oral testimonies and handwritten personal statements that accompany it. The installation was unveiled at the Al Hoash Gallery in East Jerusalem on the commemoration of ‘Nakbah Day’ - May 15 - the date Britain officially ended its UN mandate and the state of Israel was formed.
With its thousands of tiny figures held in limbo, this installation is a sombre reflection upon the consequences of a nevertobeforgotten tragedy in Europe that cast the Palestinian people into purgatory, sowing the seeds of perpetual unrest in the Middle East.
Sound design by Sami Darwish.
www.patriothallgallery.co.uk/festival.htm
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