Palestinian Art: Searching for Identity

The course will deal with the development of Palestinian art from the mid-19th century to the present, with an emphasis on contemporary Palestinian art. It will be based on the presentation of works of visual art in all its shades: painting, drawing, sculpture, performance, installation, photography and more. During the course we will delve into central questions that Palestinian artists try to find out through their works, and ask how this is done in the complex political context in which they live, according to a geopolitical division: as citizens within Israel, in the territories of the Palestinian Authority, throughout the Arab world and beyond. We will refer to the currently developing research discourse regarding the definition of Palestinian art and clarify number of questions related, among other things, to the multicultural space in which Palestinian artists operate today. We will discuss the relationship between the status of women in Arab society and its reflection in visual art. Special emphasis will be placed on the desires of female artists and their unique ways of expression in relation to feminist criticism of society.