2010 

“There are still people who perceive Palestinian art in a militant and national way.” A leading figure of the new wave of Palestinian artists, Steve Sabella is reworking the image of Palestinian art. Conceptual and psychological, his photomontage series In Exile challenges the traditional approach to the Palestinian question.

On the occasion of the exhibition Palestine, Creativity In All Its States, showing until Feb 10th at the Bahrain National Museum, Steve Sabella offers l’Agenda’s readers the key to viewing contemporary Palestinian art through a different lens.

Sabella in fact points out that “It is important at this point in history to see how Palestinian artists relate to the Question of Palestine or their perception of life from a personal perspective rather than a national perspective, something that categorized Palestinian art till the very early 1990s.” With sarcasm, humor and introspection, the artists of Palestine, Creativity In All Its States surprise us with their visions of the Palestinian conflict.

Angst, solitude, madness. It isn’t bloody images of combat that give rise to these sentiments, but rather the five photomontages that make up Steve Sabella’s In Exile. How are a million small pictures of dark windows mounted one to the other related to Palestine? The artist's explanation strikes us as a laden one.