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Sigalit Landau is an Israeli artist whose work was exhibited at New York’s Museum of Modern Art through the end of July 2008. She has represented Israel at the Venice Biennale, with works of “endless lamentation,” in the words of Art in America critic Philip Leider, who had no trouble comparing one of Landau’s installations to Picasso’s “Guernica.” It summed up “in a way not likely to be matched the mood of Israel at this moment in its history.”
And so on, to return to the remarkable artists making up the Spertus Museum’s “Imaginary Coordinates” exhibit, with Mona Hatoum (a Palestinian native of Beirut living in London), Enas Muthaffar (Palestinian filmmaker, native of Jerusalem who divides her time between Jerusalem and the Occupied Territories), Michal Rovner , an Israeli firlm artist who lives in New York and Israel, and Shirley Shor I native who lives and works in San Francisco.
Writing in The Jewish Press , critic Menachem Wecker noted the museum skirting controversy with “its exploration of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as it unfolds across the Holy Land. There is perhaps nowhere more at stake in maps and mapmaking than there is in the Middle East, where Jews, Christians, and Muslims all turn to their scripture to claim the land. Spertus includes Palestinian maps in “Imaginary Coordinates” in an effort to show how different nations and religious groups view the Holy Land and its boundaries.” He added:
Those looking at the exhibit in the spirit of Spertus—to learn—did so. Those looking at it through politically motivated lenses preferred to find the exhibit objectionable. In the end, the politically motivated won. The exhibit was censored.
But eight wonderful young Israeli and Palestinian artists are slightly better known for it. Judging from their work briefly on display in Chicago and their work so frequently exhibited elsewhere, including in Israel, the Palestinian Territories and some of the world’s greatest museums, they’ll likely become much better known before long. And very likely be back in Chicago museums, one way or another: the most imaginary boundary of all is one that attempts to demarcate art from its public.
Compraing One Artist’s Work to Picasso’s “Guernica”
Sigalit Landau is an Israeli artist whose work was exhibited at New York’s Museum of Modern Art through the end of July 2008. She has represented Israel at the Venice Biennale, with works of “endless lamentation,” in the words of Art in America critic Philip Leider, who had no trouble comparing one of Landau’s installations to Picasso’s “Guernica.” It summed up “in a way not likely to be matched the mood of Israel at this moment in its history.”
And so on, to return to the remarkable artists making up the Spertus Museum’s “Imaginary Coordinates” exhibit, with Mona Hatoum (a Palestinian native of Beirut living in London), Enas Muthaffar (Palestinian filmmaker, native of Jerusalem who divides her time between Jerusalem and the Occupied Territories), Michal Rovner , an Israeli firlm artist who lives in New York and Israel, and Shirley Shor I native who lives and works in San Francisco.
Art Critics Without borders
Writing in The Jewish Press , critic Menachem Wecker noted the museum skirting controversy with “its exploration of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as it unfolds across the Holy Land. There is perhaps nowhere more at stake in maps and mapmaking than there is in the Middle East, where Jews, Christians, and Muslims all turn to their scripture to claim the land. Spertus includes Palestinian maps in “Imaginary Coordinates” in an effort to show how different nations and religious groups view the Holy Land and its boundaries.” He added:
Some viewers will see a moral or religious relativism in this curatorial move, and others will see an anti-Israel move in the decision to show Palestinian maps. Perhaps the curators intended to legitimize all sorts of maps of the region and to question who holds the correct maps. But these questions are beside the point and it would be wrong to judge the entire show on political or religious grounds.Wecker’s essay appeared on June 12, eight days before the exhibit was shuttered.
Spertus has to be commended for bringing attention not only to controversial maps, but also to the ways in which all maps carry invented components. Not every map is propaganda per se, but neither can they be trusted to approach land from an objective standpoint. In this light, every map in the show ought to be examined (indeed admired) from a skeptical distance.
Summing up What Was Lost—and Gained
Those looking at the exhibit in the spirit of Spertus—to learn—did so. Those looking at it through politically motivated lenses preferred to find the exhibit objectionable. In the end, the politically motivated won. The exhibit was censored.
But eight wonderful young Israeli and Palestinian artists are slightly better known for it. Judging from their work briefly on display in Chicago and their work so frequently exhibited elsewhere, including in Israel, the Palestinian Territories and some of the world’s greatest museums, they’ll likely become much better known before long. And very likely be back in Chicago museums, one way or another: the most imaginary boundary of all is one that attempts to demarcate art from its public.
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