الفن تحت الحصار

While living under conditions of ghettoization and military assault, Palestinian artists continue to be driven to express themselves in paint, photography, and other visual media. This article examines the work of six of the ten finalists in the September 2002 biennial competition for the Ramallah-based A. M. Qattan Foundation’s Young Artists of the Year Award. After briefly surveying the conditions that have marked post-1948 Palestinian art, the author finds the will to create under extreme conditions to be an illustration of Palestinian self-assertion and faith in life.

Kamal Boulata, an artist whose works are held in numerous public collections, including those of the Arab World Institute in Paris, the World Bank, the New York Public Library, and the British Museum, has written extensively on art. He lives in the south of France.