Life on The Ceasefire Line by Randa Maddah


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    Randa Maddah's artistic journey has its roots in her hometown of Majdal Shams, situated on the edge of the ceasefire line dividing the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria. Against a backdrop of displacement and resistance, Maddah explores the resilience and cultural legacy of her homeland through her multidisciplinary art practice. Expressed across the realms of sculpture, painting, carving, and digital media, her work transcends creative confines, immersing the audience in the collective psyche of a people haunted by conflict and displacement.

    In Light Horizon, for example, Maddah unveils the harrowing echoes of history through the lens of a woman navigating the ruins of her ravaged home. Against a backdrop of destruction, mundane acts of tidying become acts of defiance, reclaiming normalcy amidst chaos. Through her sculptures and installations, she lays bare the raw anguish of those trapped in the liminal space between occupation and identity. Another work, A Hair Tie, captures the tangled complexities of displacement, offering a visceral testament to the shared pain of Syrians and Palestinians alike. 

    More recently, her works on canvas have explored themes of rootedness, rebirth, and renewal, infused with elements found in nature, suggesting that harmony might be possible.

    Maddah's art then becomes a call to action, reminding us of the human cost of conflict. She confronts the erasure of history and the relentless pursuit of hope in the face of adversity.

    By producing artwork that transcends borders and disciplinary boundaries, Maddah promotes empathy in a world defined by division.

     
  • Randa: I was born in 1983 in the village of Majdal Shams in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. At a...

    Randa:

    I was born in 1983 in the village of Majdal Shams in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. At a very young age, my family noticed my deep connection with drawing, leading them to enrol me in drawing and sculpture courses. This early encouragement continued until I began my university studies in fine arts in Damascus.

    Randa:

    My artistic journey started with courses in drawing, sculpture, and printing at the Adham Ismail Center in Damascus in 2003, followed by a degree from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Sculpture Department, at Damascus University in 2005. In 2007, I pursued engraving and printing at the Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem. By 2020, I had obtained a Master's degree in Fine Arts from the National School of Fine Arts in Paris. I am a founding member of Fatiha Madrasa for Arts and Culture in the occupied Golan Heights and a founding member of "l'association Portes ouvertes sur l'art" in Paris.

     

  • Randa: Like most inhabitants of the Golan Heights, I grew up within a reality imposed by occupation. This reality presented...

    Randa:

    Like most inhabitants of the Golan Heights, I grew up within a reality imposed by occupation. This reality presented daily challenges and countless questions about the "correctness" of the paths we must follow to preserve our cultural and social identities. These questions, paired with a sense of helplessness in waiting for solutions, created a state of chaos within me, where art became my way of reshaping and organising it.

    Randa:

    Key moments in my trajectory illustrate my shift in concerns and engagement with new media as a means of processing this over time. My artistic production began in 2008 with the Puppet Theater project showcased in Ramallah as part of the Young Artist Competition held by the Abdul Mohsen Al-Qattan Foundation. I documented my daily life and impressions of the Palestinian community near Qalandia Checkpoint, marking the start of my relationship with visual documentation. In 2011, witnessing the Syrian revolution from afar, I created Untitled, an installation piece expressing my disappointment towards the regime's corrupted army.

  • In 2012, as destruction and displacement escalated in Syria, I created Light Horizon, a video work attempting to comprehend the destruction by presenting its elements. That same year, I produced A Quote, a piece reflecting on freedom intertwined with loss and death. Following this, I created the series Bullets on Paper \ Pencil on Paper, documenting my relationship with the events inside Syria. In 2017, I made In View, a video work reflecting Syrian and Israeli perspectives on the oppression and loss of identity on both sides of the border.

    Randa:

    In the same year, in 2017, I produced Restoration, an installation work addressing failure and reclaiming memory disrupted by trauma or occupation. Through the project Exercises in a Dark Room in 2020, I highlighted the ongoing conflict between values and concepts in our reality. My current project, Hanging Gardens, started at the end of 2022, embodies a spirit formed under harsh and absurd realities, exploring themes of ecstasy, liberation from fear, and reincarnation.

    Randa:

    My work often features repeated visual elements across different media, including nature, floating and suspended objects, and circles that connect beginnings to ends or return to the beginning. Natural elements such as trees, grass, flowers, and birds frequently appear in my work, as well as human elements such as hair and clothing.

    Randa:

    When producing my work, the concept of time changes. Time becomes an important element in the narrative process, serving as an additional tool in creating meaning. Ultimately, I want viewers to leave with a sense of questioning and a drive to research the themes I’ve presented.

     
  • Randa: Reflecting on my recent series, Hanging Gardens, I connect the work to a recurring dream I used to have....
    Randa: 
     

    Reflecting on my recent series, Hanging Gardens, I connect the work to a recurring dream I used to have. During my upbringing, particularly in my childhood, I developed a strong bond with the enchanting nature of the Golan Heights, which became a sanctuary during difficult times, particularly those connected to the constantly tense political situations and the wars I was close to, which my awareness at the time could not interpret or deal with—fear was the dominant feeling. During that period, I had the same dream every night, which I called “the Orange Grove Dream.” In the dream, I would wake up every day in a dream state, walking to our kitchen where behind the oven, designed by my father to resemble a marble room, there was a small, narrow secret door. It was just wide enough for my small body to enter an orange grove enclosed by high red earthen walls adorned with waterfalls of grass and flowers. There, the light was bright, but the shadows created by the orange trees resembled small, temperate caves. The oranges were always ripe but clinging to their mother tree.

  • Randa: In this orange grove, all the beings were drifting and flying; there were no reptiles. They were beautiful, peaceful,...
    Randa: 
     

    In this orange grove, all the beings were drifting and flying; there were no reptiles. They were beautiful, peaceful, yet strange creatures, a blend of human, bird, plant, and animal. In the dream, I would sit there and contemplate, and before those in the house woke up, I would return through the door behind the oven, then the door would close, and I would go back to sleep. This dream stopped visiting me when I grew a bit older. One night, I tried to enter through the small door behind the oven, but I was unable to; my body had grown larger than the door's opening. At that moment, I took a last glance at the grove before this dream ceased to visit me altogether. This dream was the response to my needs as a child attempting to adapt to circumstances and feelings that exceeded my understanding and awareness.

     

    Randa: 

     

    Regarding the form of the elements in the project, I have always been captivated by the works of artists from the Baroque period, particularly narrative painting, followed by the Flemish art movement, especially the works of Breughel the Elder and the Younger. Of course, there are many other influences stemming from icons and miniatures. Works like Dante's “Inferno,” the imagined beings of Borges, the poetry of Rumi and Shams of Tabriz, and the “One Thousand and One Nights,” along with the childhood stories I enjoyed listening to from my mother, have all left their mark on the characters I have produced thus far.