A. M. Qattan Foundation and the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Centre have recently hosted a talk by internationally acclaimed curator Jonathan Watkins in the Sakakini building in Ramallah. In his talk, Watkins presented his participation at the Venice Biennale in 2013 through the organisation of the Iraqi Wing. The same exhibition was put on display the next year in London.
Watkins spoke of his travels across Iraqi cities as he prepared for the exhibition, in which he tried to reflect the daily lives of Iraqis despite the unceasing war and destruction. He explained that he did not know much about the Iraqi art scene and added, “I come from the UK, one of the countries that invaded Iraq in 2003. I knew about Iraq from the news – which, as we know, does not reflect the reality on the ground. I was interested in showing the uninterrupted lives of Iraqis in detail; their markets, their children going to school, etc.” Watkins also put on display a number of photos of the Iraqi Wing in the Venice Biennale as well as some paintings by Iraqi artists exhibited in the Wing.
Artist Khaled Hourani, who attended the talk, said, “The subject is important and introduces the audience to a new aspect of curators’ work and their relationships to artists.” He added, “I liked the concept of the exhibition, which Watkins presented – i.e. the Iraqi Wing - as it demonstrates Iraq from his own perspective”.
Artist Bashar Hroub, who was also there, explained that he was particularly interested in seeing how Watkins presented Iraq and its complex situation in the Venice Biennale. “Watkins presented Iraq from an important angle,” he noted. “He dealt with unknown artists, living a very different reality from Iraqi artists abroad, and he tackled aspects of daily life, away from direct politics”.
A. M. Qattan Foundation and the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Centre are hosting Jonathan Watkins in a series of workshops and lectures on the organisation of contemporary art exhibitions throughout the current week. On Friday, November 18, in the Sakakini Centre, Watkins will be opening “We Are Moving”, an exhibition that marks the end of five days of workshops with 14 Palestinian artists. The exhibition is built around contributions and ideas of the participating artists that will be implemented to form the final product of their collective work for the exhibition’s opening ceremony.