‘Gaza Biennale – The Istanbul Pavilion: A cloud in my hand’ showcases art of resistance

ISTANBUL

The Gaza Biennale, conceived and led by artists from the besieged enclave, has opened its Istanbul Pavilion with curators saying the initiative seeks to uphold Palestine’s dignity, hopes and liberation through art.

Titled “Gaza Biennale – The Istanbul Pavilion: A cloud in my hand,” the exhibition brings together works by more than 50 artists from Gaza, Palestine and other countries. It opened Sept. 19 and will run at Depo Istanbul until Nov. 8, coinciding with the 18th Istanbul Biennial.

Curator Almut Sh. Bruckstein told Anadolu: “What I find important in this exhibition is first, that it is commissioned and directed and curated by artists from Gaza. This exhibition was commissioned and announced by artists who live in Gaza. All of them came together as a group and they stood on a beach under siege and they pronounced this biennial from Gaza and from in the middle of the war, of the bombardment.”

She added: “That means that this exhibition, other than many exhibitions, is actually commissioned, directed and curated directly by the Gazan artists. And of course, we all know that the Gazan artists cannot travel and cannot move and barely survive.”

Symbol of resistance

The Gaza Biennale began last year as an act of artistic resistance on a Gaza beach, organized with the Forbidden Museum of Jabal Al Risan near Ramallah. Since then, cultural institutions worldwide have hosted pavilions as gestures of diasporic solidarity, replacing national representation with cross-border artistic alliances.

Because artists in Gaza cannot transport their works abroad, the Istanbul Pavilion experiments with alternative exhibition methods — cocreation, ghostwriting, teleconversations and collaborative installations. More than 20 international artists, including Alfredo Jaar, Walid Raad, Shirin Neshat and Elisabeth Mase, have contributed works in support.

Bruckstein said the show spans two floors, the first conceived as a “museum of the future for these artists.”

“On that floor, we think that every single artwork could become a symbol for the whole exhibition,” she said. “Beautiful, I think about this exhibition, that it contributes to the dignity and the hopes and the liberation movement of Palestine in showing the artworks in their most noble ways, because these are artists who are anticipating and striving for liberation,” she said.

“So, this is actually an exhibition that shows artworks to the world of artists who keep praying for the survival of their loved ones, their families, etc. So, of course, it is a part of the dignity of Palestine.”

Broad support in Istanbul

The biennale has drawn strong public interest since opening, Bruckstein said. “We have met a very welcoming, very generous Istanbul public.”

Discussing how works from Gaza were adapted for display, she said: “Since the artists are in Gaza and the artworks are in Gaza, we had to think very carefully together with the artists. We worked with the two Palestinian Arab speakers who are actually in contact with the artists almost daily.”

“So, we found a way how to present the artworks in a transformed way or in a slightly changed way. We found ways to collaborate with Istanbul artists to create a way how to present their work in the most beautiful ways.”

“So, it's all a result of a lot of negotiations, a lot of speaking together and actually transforming or transposing their work into a different media. For example, a maquette could become a photograph or a photograph could become a print on paper.”

Curated by the House of Taswir and associates, the pavilion features video portraits, phone dialogues, wall writings and a table of scholars. Public programs include film screenings, poetry nights and in-situ conversations with Gazan artists.