The Palestine Hotel, Nablus
Sitting in the University Library at Cambridge, reading the sculptor Eric Gill’s diaries of his trip to Palestine in 1934 (he had been commissioned by the architect Austen St. Barbe … Continue reading
Farewell to a Painting
It was a genuine wrench to walk away from True Belief Belongs to the Realm of Real Knowledge, a huge, sublime wall-painting by Idris Khan. The Whitworth Gallery exhibition of … Continue reading
Review: The Freedom Theatre perform ‘The Siege’
Electronic Intifada, 2 June 2015 The setting for The Siege is the interior of the church itself, skilfully evoked with a specially-constructed set in which smoke, ornate hanging lamps, tiled … Continue reading
New review: ‘Garden State’ at the Mosaic Rooms
Electronic Intifada, 28 May 2015 But the images also have a larger narrative; the Carmel forest — insofar as any landscape in an inhabited region is “natural” — is not … Continue reading
New review: ‘Traces & Revelations’ at Durham’s Oriental Museum
Electronic Intifada, 10th April 2014 But in hosting Traces and Revelations, a viscerally exciting new show of paintings by Hazem Harb and Mohammed Joha, the Oriental Museum at the University … Continue reading
New review: ‘In the City’ at London’s P21 Gallery
Electronic Intifada, 21st October 2013 [T]he works shown in In the City stress the interaction between cultures and between tradition and modernity. They assert that Middle Eastern and North African … Continue reading
New article: Palestinian artist John Halaka interviewed
Electronic Intifada, 30th August 2013 “I’ve faced quite a few problems, resistance to my work. In the US, if an artist makes work that addresses the Palestinian situation — and … Continue reading
New article: Hani Zurob artist biography reviewed
Electronic Intifada, 17th June 2013 Hani was… born and raised in the Rafah refugee camp. His first public art consisted of the graffiti and political posters of the first intifada, … Continue reading
UK Border Agency vs art/sanity (AGAIN)… and an intemperate rant against UKIP
Facebook is bad for my blood pressure. Usually because of its commercialised intrusive horribleness (although AdBlock still goes a long way…), but also because of information like this, from yesterday: … Continue reading
New article: London’s P21 gallery and the ‘Refractions’ show
Electronic Intifada, 5th February 2013 Even more shocking, perhaps, is [Laila Shawa‘s] video work “Gaza Fashion Week,” which shows a woman clad in a jilbab (a loose-fit coat) and headscarf … Continue reading
Haifa’s ‘path of poetry’
This is the second (possibly last, not sure yet) post expanding on some of the points from Khaled Furani’s Silencing the Sea which I couldn’t shoehorn into the proper review … Continue reading
Seeing the Alhambra
The Alhambra (al-Qasr al-Hamra) in Granada is one of the most stunning buildings in the world. Its late-Islamic Andalucian decorations are breathtaking in their intricacy and delicacy, and the newly-renovated … Continue reading
New article: ‘Despite’ Palestinian art exhibition reviewed
Electronic Intifada, 2nd January 2013 Despite has been an important exhibition for many reasons. It is probably one of the largest collections of art from Gaza ever shown, at least … Continue reading
‘Despite’ at Richmix, Bethnal Green
Merry Christmas, one and all. For anyone who, like me, is stuck in London over the festive period (and the weather outside is about the least festive thing I’ve ever … Continue reading
New article: 'In Ramallah, Running' reviewed
Electronic Intifada, 6th September 2012 It is somewhat ironic that artist Emily Jacir’s contribution to the book In Ramallah, Running includes this passage: “Every day there seems to be a … Continue reading
Knowledge, bitter and sweet
What I know about ceramics could be written on the back of a small exhibition label. But I do know that there is something about the solidity and heft and … Continue reading
Sarah Irving 