Symposium for the Arts Lecture: Sascha Crasnow
Saturday, April 6th at the Sacramento State Art Symposium, Dr. Crasnow discussed “Occupied Time: Palestinian Time After the Intifadas”—her work following the Palestinians concepts of time in art. Dr. Crasnow follows the themes in art after this event, in which nostalgia is replaced by frustration as new generations must face hardships such as the Intifadas of 1987 and 2000.
To illustrate her point, Dr. Crasnow used art spanning over time from the 1948 Palestinian exodus, also known as the Nakba, to the first and second Intifadas. The Nakba was caused by the creation of the Israeli state and led to the displacement of over 700,000 persons. Artists post-Nakba showcased the longing for a life they had lost, and still hoped to get back. Below is one such artist Sliman Mansour, who was born just one year before the Nakba and uses peaceful images to encourage the morale of those still waiting for independence and a home to call there own after their displacement.
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| Sliman Mansour, Woman Picking Olives, 2018 |
On the other side of the spectrum are the artists expressing frustration. After the Nakba, Palestinians were treated as second class citizens, kept separate from the others in Isreal and subject to constant searches. An uprising in the late 1980's would become known as the First Intifada, in which Palestinians failed to change their status within the state. This was repeated in the early 2000s with the second intifada.
Palestinians began feeling the redundancy of their cause, constantly being brought back to the start by the same issues as before. Thus never changing, meanwhile, the rest of the world seems to develop without them while they are held back by their unchanging situation. Artists represented this feeling in works which brought the past to the present and had a theme of cycles or repetition.
Although not mentioned in Crasnow's talk, Mary Tuma's work is a wonderful example of the themes she describes. In this artwork Homes for the Disembodied, Tuma represents the strength that Palestine women have displayed in the face of hardship, but also their exclusion. Underrepresented in the history of the crisis, these silk cloaks provide a "home" for these disembodied women.
Dr. Crasnow, along with the other symposium speakers, were very generous with their time and effort and the Sacramento State Art Department and Students thank them for it.
Palestinians began feeling the redundancy of their cause, constantly being brought back to the start by the same issues as before. Thus never changing, meanwhile, the rest of the world seems to develop without them while they are held back by their unchanging situation. Artists represented this feeling in works which brought the past to the present and had a theme of cycles or repetition.
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Ashraf Fawakhry, Tayara Haramiyi, 2014
Ashraf Fawakhry is one of the artist's used as an example in Crasnow's talk. Fawakhry uses the image of a donkey in his work as a symbol of both himself and Palestine, here it is placed in a spiral, imagery often used in Fawakhry's work to demonstrate Palestine's state of constant tribulations. A never-ending spiral of crisis.
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| Mary Tuma, Homes for the Disembodied, 50 continuous yards of silk, 2000 |
Although not mentioned in Crasnow's talk, Mary Tuma's work is a wonderful example of the themes she describes. In this artwork Homes for the Disembodied, Tuma represents the strength that Palestine women have displayed in the face of hardship, but also their exclusion. Underrepresented in the history of the crisis, these silk cloaks provide a "home" for these disembodied women.
Dr. Crasnow, along with the other symposium speakers, were very generous with their time and effort and the Sacramento State Art Department and Students thank them for it.
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