‘The Body Called Palestine': an exhibition at Jawahar Bhavan that exposes the raw anger and the unmitigated pain of Palestinian artists

The Hindu

22-05-2025

The more things change the more they stay the same. More than 20 years ago, Palestinian author Rana Barakati was quoted in Seeking Palestine, 'Palestine-in-exile is an idea, a love, a goal, a movement…a poem, a thesis, and yes, a people scattered, displaced, dispossessed and determined.'
Not much has changed since then. The Palestinians, if anything, are devastated today. But as Barkati said, it is a movement, a poem, an art.
Lending Palestinian art some space in New Delhi is Jawahar Bhawan which is hosting 'The Body Called Palestine' exhibition, featuring 140 works by Palestinian, Indian, and few other international artists. Curated by Kolkata-based Amit Mukhopadhyay and organised by SAHMAT, the exhibition which has digital prints of some of the best Palestinian works explores the impact of the Israeli occupation on Palestinian life. It talks of love and loss, anguish and unmitigated pain.
Says Aban Raza, a New Delhi-based artist, 'It's an attempt to show solidarity with Palestine. We are living in times when taking the name of Palestine is not always safe. There is an attempt at suppression; at times people are not allowed to show solidarity. That makes the exhibition even more important. It's an effort to channel our anguish.'
'The works on display express the spirit of protest, solidarity on the question of unity besides anger and pain in the context of settler colonialism which is destroying the very fabric of Palestinian life and culture,' Amit corroborates.
The works are a reminder of the long struggle to be free from oppression and cruelty unprecedented in our time, he adds. Most are just black and white, lending a unique appeal to the show.
'It reminds us of the holocaust,' says Amit. We have heard of people being arrested for unfurling the Palestinian flag, and much of social media is either silent on Israel's atrocities, or even in support. Wasn't putting together this exhibition where artists talk of displacement, denial, even death, a matter more of guts than an artist's brush?
'If you are searching for truth then the question of guts does not matter. What guides you is to find the reality and the truth of life lived by the Palestinian people for so many years. Yes, there were difficulties but one needs to be patient, especially for those artists from Gaza who have lost everything. If you are sincere and honest, you get the honest response from the artists even though it may take some time. But finally, it was quite satisfying and fulfilling,' Amit says.
The exhibition features digital prints of Palestine artists' works as most could not travel or send their original works due to unending violence in Gaza. 'It was important to speak up. As we could not have hoped to get the original works due to constant killings and bombing of the innocent people in Palestine, we got digital prints of many of the works,' says Raza.
The idea was to communicate, to awaken, to arouse and understand the plight of Palestine and Palestinians. Delhi's date with Palestine could not have been better timed.
At Jawahar Bhavan, Dr Rajendra Prasad Road, Opposite Shastri Bhawan, Windsor Place; Till May 31; 9.30am to 7pm