Jumana Emil Abboud
Jumana Emil Abboud | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1971 Shefa-Amr, Palestine |
| Occupation | Artist |
| Years active | 1990s–present |
| Known for | Visual arts, video art, installation, performance art |
Jumana Emil Abboud () is a Palestinian artist residing in Jerusalem.[1]Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name
Abboud has been honored with the AFAC grant, the Pernod Ricard Fellowship, and a production grant from the Sharjah Art Foundation.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name Her creations have been showcased at prominent international events such as the Sydney Biennial, Venice Biennale, Sharjah Biennal, and Istanbul Biennial. Additionally, her work has appeared in esteemed venues including the Bahrain National Museum, the Arab World Institute in Paris, The Jerusalem Show, Darat al Funun in Amman, Carré d'Art in Nîmes,[1] Gallery for Contemporary Arts in Leipzig, and Museo Fundacion Antonio Perez in Cuenca.[2]
Life
Born in 1971 in Shefa-Amr (Shfar'am), Abboud relocated to Canada at the age of eight. While adapting to an English-speaking school environment there, she cultivated an interest in visual arts through classes focused on drawing, still life painting, and calligraphy. Between 1989 and 1991, she studied at the Ontario College of Arts in Toronto,Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name but returned to Shefa-Amr following her father's unexpected passing. Subsequently, she completed her studies at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, graduating in 1996.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name
Work
Abboud utilizes a variety of media—including drawing, video, installation, spoken word, performance, text, and sculpture—to investigate themes such as memory, loss, belonging, and desire. Rooted deeply in Palestinian cultural heritage and traditions, her installations often engage with storytelling and oral histories conveyed through the human form and folklore, frequently incorporating Palestinian landscapes.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name
She offers new perspectives on fairy tales like Rapunzel, using sketches, photography, lace, and seeds to explore the societal roles of Arab women.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name
Her three-channel video installation Hide Your Water from the Sun draws attention to a 1920 research by Dr. Tawfiq Canaan concerning water spirits and springs believed to be haunted.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name In collaboration with filmmaker Issa Freij, Abboud captured these sites—now vanished water sources that persist within Palestinian folklore—merging personal childhood recollections with historical inquiry.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name
In 1998, Abboud presented 'Suspicions' (a mixed media piece within a wooden box) at London's Candid Arts Trust during Story Time (وقت القصة) זמן סיפור—the inaugural exhibition featuring Jewish and Palestinian Arab artists from Israel/Palestine held in London. Curated by Anna Sherbany,Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name Abboud described her art as influenced by her identity as a Palestinian woman. She aims to articulate women's intimate narratives through symbolic imagery and complex metaphors, characterizing her creative approach as gradually revealing focal points hidden beneath richly layered canvases.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name
Exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions
- Jumana Emil Abboud, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead (May–October 2016)
Group Exhibitions
- ‘Palestin(a) - Eight Woman Artists’, Al Wasiti Art Center, Jerusalem (1998–1999)
- Mediterranean Biennial for Young Artists, Rome (1999)
- 'Gateway’, National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman (1999)
- ‘Palestinian Artists Today’, Drammens Museum, Norway (1999)
- Murals in the city, Jericho Winter Festival, Jericho (1999)
- ‘Look Mama Look’, Art Focus, Jerusalem (1999)
- The Last Drawing of the Century’, Zerynthia Center for Contemporary Art, Rome (2000)
- 'Empathy’, Galerie im Kornerpark, Berlin (2000)
- La Havana International Biennial, Havana (2000)
- 'DisOrientation’, House of World Culture, Berlin (2003)
- 'Unscene’, Stephen Lawrence Gallery, London (2004)
- 'Shame’, Holon Center for Digital Art, Holon (2004)
- 'Belonging’, The Seventh International Sharjah Biennial, U.A.E. (2005)
- 'Streams of Story’, Tramway, Glasgow International (2006)
- 'Liminal Spaces’, Gallery for Contemporary Arts, Leipzig (2006)
- 'Re-Considering Palestinian Art', The Antonio Pérez Foundation, Cuenca, Spain (2006)
- 'Blindes Vertrauen', Galerie Nord | Kunstverein Tiergarten, Berlin (2010)
- Sharjah Biennial, Sharjah (2017)
- 'The Unbearable Halfness of Being', documenta fifteen, Grimmwelt Kassel, Kassel (2022)
References
- Alumni of Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design
- Alumni of OCAD University
- Contemporary Palestinian artists
- Palestinian immigrants to Canada
- Palestinian women artists of the 20th century
- Palestinian artists active in the 20th century
- Individuals born in the 20th century
- Palestinian women artists of the 21st century
- Palestinian artists active in the 21st century
- Palestinian video art practitioners
- Female video artists
- Artists specializing in performance art
- Living people with unknown birth year
- Living people