On Jan. 8, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., the UW Art Gallery in East Campus Hall hosted the opening reception for i look to the skies, a new exhibition by Palestinian-Canadian artist Jude Abu Zaineh. The event was free and open to the public. Upon arrival, student volunteers greeted me and directed me to a table where I could pick up a copy of the artist’s bio and an overview of the names of the pieces within the exhibition. Having arrived before the official opening remarks, it was nice to get some time to observe the artwork before more visitors made their way inside.
One of the first pieces that caught my attention was a cushioned seat with a unique pattern mounted onto a light blue cut-out wooden frame. This installation is titled Treachery of Time; Revolving World (excerpt). Besides my intrigue about the artist’s ability to incorporate seating within a piece of art, I was interested in the four retro-style televisions mounted beside the seat. Upon closer observation, I noticed the televisions showed videos of blue patterns, an ocean, and a cloudy sky.
Next, beside this installation, a column in the center of the exhibition, titled HOME (blue). The column was wrapped in wallpaper with the letters of the word ‘home’ repeated in differing colours.
HOME (blue)
As I strolled further, I made my way through several wooden arches, also carved with detailed cut-out patterns. These arches were lit up with neon lighting, directly mounted to the wood. The artist titled these two arch installations as above, so below.
Past the wooden arches, another glowing installation immediately caught my eye. Titled the Palestinian Poppy, this installation was my favorite from the exhibition. Carefully manipulated neon lights are arranged in the shape of a poppy. The placement of this piece of art near the back of the room was thoughtful as well, as the partially darker lighting near the back showed off the glowing colors of the flower. The artist described this display as being both the national flower of Palestine and containing colors emblematic of the Palestinian flag.
After taking some time to explore the exhibition, I had the chance to speak with the artist herself, Jude Abu Zaineh. Abu Zaineh is a Palestinian-Canadian artist-curator. Asked about how she began working on the exhibition, she shared that the idea started out in Halifax, at Mount Saint Vincent University. Given this is a travelling exhibition, the artwork was conceived with that space in mind, however, “part of the way it was designed and conceived was that it would be modular and that it would change and morph or adapt based on all the different venues that it [goes] to.”
Abu Zaineh expressed interest in “conceiving spaces that allow viewers and audience to move through in its totality.”
When describing the themes highlighted in this exhibition, she described it as expressing “ideals of home and belonging and this transitional space for Palestinians or those in diaspora or who have dealt with some kind of exilic experience whether its refugees, immigrants, newcomers.”
Finally, she emphasized how this exhibition “Interven[es] in space and transgress[es] space to make the Palestinian story present at a time when there’s constant censorship and erasure or undermining of the narrative.”
i look to the skies will remain at the UW Art Gallery until March 7, before travelling to a gallery in Montreal later this fall.
