Jameel Arts Centre is showcasing Hannoun, a site-specific installation by Palestinian artist Taysir Batniji which is part of his ongoing exploration of themes such as memory, erasure, non-being, and destruction/construction. The display is part of the Artist’s Rooms initiative, a series of solo exhibitions by artists primarily from the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, drawn from the Art Jameel Collection. Batniji’s art piece will be on view until 18 August 2024.
Hannoun recreates a room identical in size to Batniji’s studio in Gaza, featuring its photograph. Finished in 2001, the studio was abandoned shortly after as the artist had to leave Gaza. He came back each year until 2006 when the borders were closed. His studio has been abandoned ever since and was recently bombed. The floor of the Hannoun room is covered with red pencil shavings, drawing from Batniji’s childhood memories of avoiding homework by sharpening pencils. The shavings resemble a field of poppies (“hannoun” means “poppy” in the Palestinian dialect), the country’s national symbol that embodies the national colours of Palestine and is often associated with the memory of freedom fighters.
Batniji describes Hannoun as an intimate space for meditation and dreaming, transcending political and geographical boundaries while creating an impassable threshold. Speaking about this installation, the artist compares his place of birth with his inaccessible studio, calling Gaza a real yet unreachable place of production. According to him, as an atelier is a space to construct and work, Hannoun represents “the attempt of an oeuvre” where the focus is on the traces of its possible realisation rather than a finished product.
About the artist
Taysir Batniji (b. 1966, Gaza, Palestine) divides his time between Paris and Palestine. In 1992, he earned a BFA in Plastic Arts from Al Najah University (Nablus, Palestine), followed by a DNSEP from Bourges National School of Fine Art (France) in 1997. In addition, Batniji studied at the Marseille School of Fine Art (France).
The artist’s practice, which encompasses drawing, photography, video, installation, and performance, revolves around the themes of impermanence, migration, belonging, uprooting, identity, personal memories as well as current and historical events. Grounded in social and concrete realities, Batniji’s work extends the boundaries of documentary practices to question methods of depiction and narrative construction. He views his art as an inquiry into representation itself rather than focusing on specific topics or situations.
Batniji’s work has been the subject of numerous monographic exhibitions across the world including Quadrillages et bifurcations (Pavillon Carré de Baudouin, Paris, France, 2023); No Condition is Permanent (Mathaf, Qatar, 2022); Home Away from Home (Aperture Foundation, New York, USA, 2018); and many others. Among the group shows and art events the artist has taken part in are About Sharing. Art on the (German-Polish) Border (The National Museum Poznan, Poland, 2023); the 12th Berlin Biennale (Germany, 2022); Kunsten Festival Watou (Belgium, 2017), and Light from the Middle East (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK, 2012), to name a few. He also participated in the Venice Biennale in 2011, 2009, and 2003.
Batniji’s creations are part of several prestigious public collections: Fondazione Goetz (Munich, Germany), V&A Museum (London), Georges Pompidou Center (Paris), Kunsthalle Wien (Austria), and Friche de Belle de Mai (Marseille), among others. The artist has received a number of accolades, including the Abraaj Group Art Prize in 2012.
To get more information about Artist’s Rooms: Taysir Batniji, please visit the official web page of the exhibition.
Additionally, you might be interested in visiting HUNDRED BEST ARABIC POSTERS — ROUND 4 on view at M7.
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