Francine Perlman: Listen Closely
Artist Francine Perlman鈥檚 installation speaks to the reality of Palestinians in the West Bank.
Newspapers express the whole of a community 鈥� politically, culturally, and socially. In Ceres鈥� intimate Gallery II, the focal sculpture, Listen Closely, with its chairs built of newspapers (one in Arabic and one in Hebrew) invites the community of Palestinians to speak out, visually, silently about their ongoing grievances. The idea for this installation germinated in 2011 with Francine Perlman鈥檚 two-week visit to the West Bank with Rabbis for Human Rights. This experience continues to surface in her work.
In the current debate, opposition to Israeli policies in the West Bank is equated with antisemitism, while the voices of the Palestinians are left unheard. Perlman鈥檚 exhibition presents some of the most salient issues that inflame the ongoing crisis: housing demolitions, water distribution, and walls built to severely restrict movement for the Palestinian inhabitants of the West Bank.
The definition of 鈥淪emitic鈥� is: 鈥渞elating to or denoting a family of languages that includes Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic and certain ancient languages such as Phoenician 鈥︹�� (Oxford Languages). It is an inclusive term, not exclusive. Perlman鈥檚 piece, In the Beginning, a drawing in her installation, is a totem: on the top, two vessels atop a labyrinth, and supporting it all, a small token made of the second letter of these alphabets: Phonecian bet, Israeli beyt, Arabic bah, each having the same meaning (house) since ancient times.
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Artist Francine Perlman鈥檚 installation speaks to the reality of Palestinians in the West Bank.
Newspapers express the whole of a community 鈥� politically, culturally, and socially. In Ceres鈥� intimate Gallery II, the focal sculpture, Listen Closely, with its chairs built of newspapers (one in Arabic and one in Hebrew) invites the community of Palestinians to speak out, visually, silently about their ongoing grievances. The idea for this installation germinated in 2011 with Francine Perlman鈥檚 two-week visit to the West Bank with Rabbis for Human Rights. This experience continues to surface in her work.
In the current debate, opposition to Israeli policies in the West Bank is equated with antisemitism, while the voices of the Palestinians are left unheard. Perlman鈥檚 exhibition presents some of the most salient issues that inflame the ongoing crisis: housing demolitions, water distribution, and walls built to severely restrict movement for the Palestinian inhabitants of the West Bank.
The definition of 鈥淪emitic鈥� is: 鈥渞elating to or denoting a family of languages that includes Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic and certain ancient languages such as Phoenician 鈥︹�� (Oxford Languages). It is an inclusive term, not exclusive. Perlman鈥檚 piece, In the Beginning, a drawing in her installation, is a totem: on the top, two vessels atop a labyrinth, and supporting it all, a small token made of the second letter of these alphabets: Phonecian bet, Israeli beyt, Arabic bah, each having the same meaning (house) since ancient times.
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