Jumana Emil Abboud brings 'The Unbearable Halfness of Being' to Cample Line
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Sunday, October 6, 2024


Jumana Emil Abboud brings 'The Unbearable Halfness of Being' to Cample Line
The Unbearable Halfness of Being, June-September 2022, exhibition view, Documenta Fifteen, Grimmwelt, Kassel. Courtesy: the artist; photograph: Frank Sperling.



NITHSDALE.- CAMPLE LINE, in South West Scotland, has brought The Unbearable Halfness of Being, an exhibition of drawings, embroidered textiles, talismanic objects, wood carvings, video and neon light works by artist Jumana Emil Abboud to CAMPLE LINE.

The Unbearable Halfness of Being was first presented in 2022 as part of the 15th edition of Documenta, an international exhibition of contemporary art that takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. This is Jumana’s first solo exhibition in Scotland, and the first presentation of this body of work since Documenta 15.

Jumana Emil Abboud (b. 1970, Nazareth) is Palestinian and is currently based between Jerusalem and London where she is completing her PhD. Her practice is grounded in the Palestinian cultural landscape and she draws on the traditions of folklore, myth-making and storytelling that once animated rural community life over generations, particularly around times of family or community gathering, such as seed-sowing, water collection or harvest. She works across drawing, installation, video and performance, often collaboratively, exploring personal and collective memory and practices of sharing and re-telling as ways to address experiences of loss and longing and the impacts of decades of dispossession and annexation.

For more than 10 years, Jumana has focused on oral histories relating to water sources, springs, wells and rivers: ‘For thousands of years, the natural landscape we lived in in Palestine was a terrain of enchantment. The natural water source - spring, well, stream – was such a terrain, inhabited by spirits, good and bad. I like to refer to such waters as spirited sites.’ Together with collaborator Issa Freij, she has researched and visited water sources across the West Bank and parts of northern Israel, guided by her childhood memories of the landscape and the stories she was told about its hauntings, as well as Dr Tawfiq Canaan’s study Haunted Springs and Water Demons in Palestine (The Palestinian Oriental Society, 1922).

The Unbearable Halfness of Being brings together a compelling body of work that Jumana began to develop in 2020 as part of a fellowship with Sakiya, a progressive academy working across art, agarian and ecological practices, based in ‘Ein Qiniya, near to Ramallah. During her residency, her research focused on seven endangered natural water sources in the Abu al-Adham hillside, and she worked closely with the community to share words, stories, live drawing practices, and participatory actions as part of an extended ‘Water Diviners’ workshop, which culminated in a live collaborative ‘Water Keepers’ performance including a 20-minute walk from one of the springs - ‘Ein al-Balad - to Sakiya.

Whilst in ‘Ein Qiniya, Jumana made inks and wax crayons with locally sourced materials and made casts of talismen with community members as part of their workshop. Working in her former studio in Jerusalem over 2020-2022, Jumana used the materials and casts to produce drawings and votives, fused with elements of a number of Palestinian folk tales, including Half-a-Halfling (which lends the ‘halfness’ of the exhibition’s title) and The Orphans’ Cow. In beeswax, the charm objects include a pair of snail shells (‘two halves of forgetfulness’), an okra pod (‘for protection and longevity’) and a broken jar (‘to find lost things’), while drawings such as Bdour and Qdour II (2020), Our other half (2022) and Two ‘Eyun (2022) re-cast the notion of siblinghood that is prominent in both stories.

At Documenta, Jumana showed these works alongside two videos, including I feel everything 2020-22; a group of seven Sacred water guardians, from 2016, which she carved in olive wood in collaboration with craftsmen from Bethlehem; three embroidered textiles based on drawings by Jumana and made collaboratively in 2021 with ‘Ein Qiniya resident Suha atta Alqam; a small crochet featuring a horse (symbol of strength) made by Jumana’s mother Clemence; two neon light works, shaped to form the Arabic letter Ein, meaning eye or water source; and a live story-telling performance entitled My Other Half, inspired by the seven water springs at ‘Ein Qiniya and performed with Yasmine Haj, Anna Sherbany and Mounya Elbakay.

At CAMPLE LINE, Jumana will present 18 drawings in our upstairs and foyer spaces, alongside a selection of embroidered textiles, wood figurines, small wax charms, and two neon works. Her films, Hide your water from the sun (2014-2017, 8’45, I feel everything (2022, 9’) and The Water Keepers (2022, 30’) will also screen over the period of the exhibition.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a new short essay written by Eline van der Vlist, CEO of SPACE Studios, London, and formerly artistic director, Darat al Funun – The Khalid Shoman Foundation in Amman.

Jumana Emil Abboud (born 1971, Nazareth) lives and works in Jerusalem and London and is currently pursuing a practice-led PhD at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London, entitled I begin with eye: on spirited waters and folk tale reunions.

CAMPLE LINE
Jumana Emil Abboud: The Unbearable Halfness of Being
October 7th, 2023 - December 17th, 2023










Today's News

October 7, 2023

Sculptures that don't have to add up to work like magic

Art Institute of Chicago exhibiting work by French artist Camille Claudel

North Carolina radio station won't ban Met Opera broadcasts after all

Rehs Contemporary presents captivating new works by renowned Japanese artist Mitsuru Watanabe

Jay-Z: Brooklyn Public Library exhibit is 'More Than What I Deserved'

Major fashion exhibition featuring Alexander McQueen and Ann Ray opens at Columbia Museum of Art

Otobong Nkanga wins the Nasher Prize for Sculpture

CODART Research: Role of curator has fundamentally changed

The Claude de Marteau Collection series achieves more than US$15.6 million at Bonhams

Nara Roesler announces the representation of Jose Dávila

Explore the world of Paul Klee's 4,000 artworks from the collection at Zentrum Plaul Klee

Jumana Emil Abboud brings 'The Unbearable Halfness of Being' to Cample Line

The Museo del Prado is focusing on the role of images in the relations between Jews and Christians in medieval Spain

Russell Sherman, poetic interpreter at the piano, dies at 93

Karrabing Film Collective presents films at Goldsmiths CCA of existing and new work

First solo exhibition of artist Kate Pincus-Whitney in Belgium, now on view at GNYP Gallery

Dimensions of geological shift visible in art of Radenko Milak at Priska Pasquer Paris

Belgian painter Jan Van Imschoot has first major retrospective at S.M.A.K.

Works by Dan Davis, Phillip Maisel, and Henna Vainio at Casemore Gallery

National Gallery of Ireland announces new landmark collaborations

The Box hosts National Gallery's 'Dutch Flowers' and Yinka Shonibare CBE RA's 'End of Empire'

Roland Hicks to create and exhibit brand new artwork 'The Fourth Wall' at Hastings Contemporary

A 'School Dance for Adults' embraces the aughts

Robert Glasper leans into the drama

Elevate Your Home Decor with Handmade Oil Painting Reproductions from Mus3ums

MS in the USA: Know Your Eligibility and Best Universities To Choose From

What is Bitcoin Cash (BCH)?

Embracing Futuristic Styles: Web Design Trends in 2024




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful