Hazem Harb
of Jerusalem in 1920
Wooden sculpture
55 1/8 x 59 x 59 in
Further images
A sculpture echoing the forms of a labyrinth is placed at the outer corner of the installation. The inner structure exposes a threefold repetition of the sculpture’s bracket-like elements, creating an inaccessible maze that blocks the viewer from the city surrounding it. Emulating Hazem Harb’s two-dimensional work, this sculpture acts like a blockade interrupting any direct view of the cityscape and posing a visual contrast to the historically grown labyrinth of Jerusalem.
The maze structure of the labyrinth is revealed only once approached, thereby asking the viewers to adjust their position to the labyrinth itself.
Exhibitions
Maraya Art Centre, a non-profit creative organisation that supports emerging artists in the region, has announced the opening of ‘Hazem Harb. Temporary Museum. For Palestine’, a solo exhibition featuring new works by contemporary Palestinian artist, Hazem Harb.
The internationally renowned Dubai-based artist’s attempts to capture the essence of the legacy of his home country, Palestine, takes the form of archival materials including ancient maps, family photographs and paintings, and are displayed in vitrines, lending it a distinct museological aesthetic. Using collage-based techniques that incorporate photography and mixed media on a grand scale, the artist pieces together a temporary museum that showcases the fragmentariness of Palestine’s history.
The exhibition opens on 20 October 2021 and will run through 10 February 2022.
Over the past years, Harb had been collecting rare antique memorabilia related to Palestine on international online auctions, some dating as far back as to 1779. Amongst his acquisitions are ancient maps of Palestine and Phoenicia, books of historical trade routes, family photographs and even artworks depicting the Holy Land by Orientalist painters such as David Roberts (1796 – 1864), a contemporary of J.M.W. Turner. Placed in an installation-based exhibition setting, Hazem Harb invites the viewer to reflect on Palestine with the hope of establishing a permanent museum of his possessions for everybody to access in future.
Conceived as an immersive experience, the exhibition showcases enlarged historical black and white photographs of the Holy Land as backdrops for visitors to step inside, as if walking within three dimensional remnants of a bygone era. Alongside these, existing works by Harb are placed in dialogue with a new large-scale installation made from olive oil containers, shining light on the importance of Palestine’s natural resources. Touching upon themes like diaspora, the practice of archiving, and a nostalgic yearning for lost histories, this exhibition presents the artist’s deep reflection on his roots entrenched between the past, present and the future.
“A museum is a place that holds objects intended to inform and spread knowledge about various subjects. A museum is also ever-changing, a space that constantly evolves. As I turned 40, I took this time to reflect on my career and the work produced throughout. I wanted to have a space to share all my findings - every book, map, photograph, and object that I have collected over the past few years. I immersed myself in extensive research since 2012. I wanted to freeze moments in time, showcasing all the evidence to celebrate a culture - a temporary story for a permanent history.” - Hazem Harb