These works by Ismail Shammout and Sliman Mansour have helped to shape Palestinian visual identity. Photos: Wikiart; Sliman Mansour
These works by Ismail Shammout and Sliman Mansour have helped to shape Palestinian visual identity. Photos: Wikiart; Sliman Mansour
These works by Ismail Shammout and Sliman Mansour have helped to shape Palestinian visual identity. Photos: Wikiart; Sliman Mansour
These works by Ismail Shammout and Sliman Mansour have helped to shape Palestinian visual identity. Photos: Wikiart; Sliman Mansour

Five important works by renowned Palestinian artists that capture their people's story


Maan Jalal
  • English
  • Arabic

The 1948, Nakba changed the Middle East forever.

Since then, writers, artists, filmmakers, thinkers and creatives from the region have attempted, through various mediums, to understand and reconcile the social and political ramifications of the ethnic cleansing.

In particular, there is a generation of renowned Palestinian artists, most of whom were expelled from Palestine, who have used their work as a means to make sense, connect or archive and voice what happened to their families, their homeland and how their identity has been and continues to be attacked.

Among the abundance of important Palestinian artists, five innovative and pioneering figures have created pivotal work from a stylistic perspective that also narratively contributes to the visual story of Palestinian identity, resistance and freedom.

These are the five Palestinian works you should know about that exemplify important artistic milestones and crucial cultural representation of the Palestinian narrative.

Madonna of the Oranges by Ismail Shammout

Madonna of the Oranges by Ismail Shammout was painted in 1997, the year the artist first returned to visit his place of birth in Al Lydd, Palestine. Photo: Wikiart
Madonna of the Oranges by Ismail Shammout was painted in 1997, the year the artist first returned to visit his place of birth in Al Lydd, Palestine. Photo: Wikiart

Painter and art historian Ismail Shammout is considered a pioneer of contemporary Palestinian art.

Shammout's realistic, symbolic and slightly expressionist style has been a means for him to chronicle the experiences of Palestinian people. A constant subject matter in his work is the Nakba, an event in which his own family were expelled from their home in Palestine.

In his work Madonna of the Oranges, painted in 1997, Shammout tackles the universal theme of mother and child – a theme that has been particularly explored in the Italian renaissance though the subject of the Madonna cradling baby Jesus.

Shammout reimagines this popular trope as a Palestinian narrative.

The young mother gazes proudly out at the viewer. Her head is draped in a white shroud, its folds echoed in the lines of the trees and the foliage of the orange grove behind her. She carries her sleeping baby against her chest and her young daughter is by her side mimicking her mother's pose, cradling instead a bunch of oranges. Both are framed by the branches of trees and the ripe, bright fruit.

Behind the woman to her right are boxes of oranges that have been packed from the grove ready to be sold, and in the background are presumably her husband and son who are harvesting more of the fruit from the trees.

Through this scene, Shammout illustrates the significance of the land to Palestinians. Not only is it a source of food and sustenance but livelihood for a family and a whole community. It is protected and cherished by them in the same way the mother holds her child, and her daughter holds the oranges close to her chest.

Shammout has painted the white shroud of the mother, the white shirt of the daughter and the off-white clothing of father and son to reflects the tones of orange and green from the surrounding landscape. Not only does this make the work more visually cohesive but it further emphasises the idea of the people’s connection to nature and their land.

Madonna of the Oranges was painted in the year Shammout first returned to visit his place of birth in Al Lydd, 50 years after his family were expelled from their home. The work is now part of the Barjeel Art Foundation in the UAE.

Jamal Al Mahamel (Camel of Hardships or Camel of Burdens) by Sliman Mansour

Sliman Mansour's Jamal Al Mahamel has become an iconic symbol for Palestinians. Photo: @sliman.mansour / Instagram
Sliman Mansour's Jamal Al Mahamel has become an iconic symbol for Palestinians. Photo: @sliman.mansour / Instagram

Palestinian painter, sculptor and author Sliman Mansour has been a key artist in creating and developing an iconography of Palestinian national identity.

One of his most important paintings, Jamal Al Mahamel (The Camel/Carrier of Hardships), painted in 1973, has become a symbol of the Palestinian struggle and Arab resistance.

The painting depicts a traditionally dressed Palestinian elderly man, weary as he wanders an endless blue landscape. His wide shoulders and anatomical proportions are painted similarly to the sculptural models of the ancient Canaanites, the indigenous people who inhabited the modern Levantine region. Through this reference, Mansour attempts to connect present Arab nationality with its ancient past.

On his shoulders and back the old man carries the city of Jerusalem. This powerful symbol weaves itself into several important narratives through the work.

First, it represents the idea of the lost homeland that Palestinians continue to carry with them whether in Palestine or in the diaspora.

The old man's age and his obvious exhaustion is symbolic of the struggle Palestinians continue to face. Despite being weighed down from the pain of the past and the dream of the future, he is determined to keep walking.

The almond-shaped window into the city clearly shows the famous gold Dome of the Rock and other Christian architectural motifs. This is a reminder of Jerusalem’s multicultural and multi-religious significance. The window is also shaped like an eye, another reference to the idea that the eye of the Palestinian people is always on their homeland.

While the original painting is thought to have been destroyed, Mansour had already reproduced the work on a poster in 1975, and due to its popularity, Jamal Al Mahamel became an image that sat in the intersection between art, identity and resistance.

The poster and other reproductions of the image have become common place in the home of Palestinians, with the figure of the old man endearingly being referred to as a father or grandfather.

Aside from Jamal Al Mahamel, Mansour's paintings such as The Daughter of Jerusalem and From the River to the Sea have been widely shared on social media as a show of Palestinian solidarity since October last year.

Despite the unknown whereabouts of the original painting, Jamal Al Mahamel is considered priceless as the image of the work lives on across many platforms in Arab and Palestinian culture.

The Spring of Palestine by Jumana El Husseini

The Spring of Palestine by Jumana El Husseini incorporates the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish. Photo: DAF
The Spring of Palestine by Jumana El Husseini incorporates the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish. Photo: DAF

Jumana El Husseini was a prominent Palestinian painter and sculptor known for combining geometric and abstract imagery with elements of Arabic calligraphy.

El Husseini’s work explores her Palestinian identity and roots, which are connected to her and her family fleeing their home during the Nakba.

The Spring of Palestine, was painted in 1970 by El Husseini as a symbol of hope and a mark of the Palestinian people’s struggle for freedom and resistance.

The artwork depicts the map of Palestine in white, against a golden yellow background, its borders surrounded with stylised, colourful birds that symbolise freedom. Decorated with motifs inspired by traditional Palestinian embroidery patterns, the birds add a colourful pictorial balance to the work while symbolising unity and diversity of Palestinian culture.

The map also offers a peek into the powerful words of the Palestinian poet and author Mahmoud Darwish. The words in Arabic are from his poem known as La Taloumny (Don’t Blame Me) that expresses the Palestinians people’s collective grief, resilience and their desire for freedom and return to their homeland.

“Don’t blame me if my land weeps. Can I endure silence while the mother suffers?” reads a section of the poem.

The Spring of Palestine is part of the Dalloul Art Foundation's collection in Sharjah, UAE.

Jerusalem, My Home by Samia Halaby

In Samia Halaby's Jerusalem, My Home she uses bold colours and lines to represent The Dome of the Rock. Photo: Ayyam Gallery
In Samia Halaby's Jerusalem, My Home she uses bold colours and lines to represent The Dome of the Rock. Photo: Ayyam Gallery

Samia Halaby is a pioneering Palestinian abstract painter, scholar and activist. She is considered one of the most important living Arab artists.

While her work is primarily concerned with exploring colour, shape and abstractions, she is heavily influenced by nature and early Islamic architecture. Halaby explores her experiences of exile and displacement since 1948 in her work but this is not always obvious due to her abstract style.

An example of this is Jerusalem, My Home, painted in 2014 and part of Halaby’s broader Jerusalem series. It is a powerful work that depicts the most recognisable architectural element of the city of Jerusalem. The Dome of the Rock is an Islamic shrine at the centre of the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem.

The Dome of the Rock does not only hold a significant place in Palestine but also in Islamic culture as Muslims believe it is the location from which the Prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven.

Halaby reimagines the dome in an abstract, geometric style, using vibrant colours and clean lines. These elements together capture the recognisable architectural shape of the landmark but also symbolise and speak to the social and political unrest experienced by the Palestinian people.

Jerusalem, My Home was on show at Halaby's first retrospective in the Middle East at the Sharjah Art Museum in January 2023 and now sits in the Dalloul Art Foundation collection, courtesy of Ayyam Gallery.

Homage to the Flag by Kamal Boullata

Homage to the Flag by Kamal Boullata. Photo: Wikimedia
Homage to the Flag by Kamal Boullata. Photo: Wikimedia

Palestinian artist and art historian Kamal Boullata has explored his Palestinian identity and experiences of exile through his practice. His unique visual language incorporates Arabic calligraphy, geometric patterns and visual influences from his childhood in Palestine.

Homage to the Flag, painted in 1990, is a significant work in his oeuvre.

The stylised reinterpretation of the Palestinian flag within a square composition transforms its green, red, and black colours into triangles that form a modern geometric pattern that is also reminiscent of traditional Palestinian embroidery.

The silkscreen print serves as an important symbol of resilience and unity, as well as a bold political and social statement. It is also part of a broader narrative in Boullata's work in which he explores notions of Palestinian identity through universally accessible language.

While Homage to the Flag has been reproduced as a poster and has made its way into online visual culture in connection to Palestine, the whereabouts of the original painting is currently unknown.

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Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters

The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.

 Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.

A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.

The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.

The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.

Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.

Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment

But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.

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The more serious side of specialty coffee

While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.

The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.

Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”

One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.

Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms. 

Jetour T1 specs

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VEZEETA PROFILE

Date started: 2012

Founder: Amir Barsoum

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: HealthTech / MedTech

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Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)

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Transmission: Six-speed automatic

Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm

Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm

Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Challenge Cup result:

1. UAE 3 faults
2. Ireland 9 faults
3. Brazil 11 faults
4. Spain 15 faults
5. Great Britain 17 faults
6. New Zealand 20 faults
7. Italy 26 faults

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Director: S Shankar

Producer: Lyca Productions; presented by Dharma Films

Cast: Rajnikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson, Sudhanshu Pandey

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Defence review at a glance

• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”

• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems

• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.

• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%

• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade

• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels

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Rainbow

Kesha

(Kemosabe)

Episode list:

Ep1: A recovery like no other- the unevenness of the economic recovery 

Ep2: PCR and jobs - the future of work - new trends and challenges 

Ep3: The recovery and global trade disruptions - globalisation post-pandemic 

Ep4: Inflation- services and goods - debt risks 

Ep5: Travel and tourism 

Women & Power: A Manifesto

Mary Beard

Profile Books and London Review of Books 

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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

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What can victims do?

Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

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The specs: Fenyr SuperSport

Price, base: Dh5.1 million

Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six

Transmission: Seven-speed automatic

Power: 800hp @ 7,100pm

Torque: 980Nm @ 4,000rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 13.5L / 100km

Squad

Ali Kasheif, Salim Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdulrahman, Mohammed Al Attas, Abdullah Ramadan, Zayed Al Ameri (Al Jazira), Mohammed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammed Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Essa, Mohammed Shaker, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah) Walid Abbas, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli), Tariq Ahmed, Jasim Yaqoub (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Muharami (Baniyas) 

Match info

Australia 580
Pakistan 240 and 335

Result: Australia win by an innings and five runs

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Engine: Two permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors

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Power: 671hp

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Range: 450km

Price: Dh601,800

On sale: now

The candidates

Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive

Ali Azeem, business leader

Tony Booth, professor of education

Lord Browne, former BP chief executive

Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist

Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist

Dr Mark Mann, scientist

Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner

Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister

Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster

 

Milestones on the road to union

1970

October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar. 

December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.

1971

March 1:  Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.

July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.

July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.

August 6:  The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.

August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.

September 3: Qatar becomes independent.

November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.

November 29:  At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.

November 30: Despite  a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa. 

November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties

December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.

December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Which honey takes your fancy?

Al Ghaf Honey

The Al Ghaf tree is a local desert tree which bears the harsh summers with drought and high temperatures. From the rich flowers, bees that pollinate this tree can produce delicious red colour honey in June and July each year

Sidr Honey

The Sidr tree is an evergreen tree with long and strong forked branches. The blossom from this tree is called Yabyab, which provides rich food for bees to produce honey in October and November. This honey is the most expensive, but tastiest

Samar Honey

The Samar tree trunk, leaves and blossom contains Barm which is the secret of healing. You can enjoy the best types of honey from this tree every year in May and June. It is an historical witness to the life of the Emirati nation which represents the harsh desert and mountain environments

5 of the most-popular Airbnb locations in Dubai

Bobby Grudziecki, chief operating officer of Frank Porter, identifies the five most popular areas in Dubai for those looking to make the most out of their properties and the rates owners can secure:

• Dubai Marina

The Marina and Jumeirah Beach Residence are popular locations, says Mr Grudziecki, due to their closeness to the beach, restaurants and hotels.

Frank Porter’s average Airbnb rent:
One bedroom: Dh482 to Dh739 
Two bedroom: Dh627 to Dh960 
Three bedroom: Dh721 to Dh1,104

• Downtown

Within walking distance of the Dubai Mall, Burj Khalifa and the famous fountains, this location combines business and leisure.  “Sure it’s for tourists,” says Mr Grudziecki. “Though Downtown [still caters to business people] because it’s close to Dubai International Financial Centre."

Frank Porter’s average Airbnb rent:
One bedroom: Dh497 to Dh772
Two bedroom: Dh646 to Dh1,003
Three bedroom: Dh743 to Dh1,154

• City Walk

The rising star of the Dubai property market, this area is lined with pristine sidewalks, boutiques and cafes and close to the new entertainment venue Coca Cola Arena.  “Downtown and Marina are pretty much the same prices,” Mr Grudziecki says, “but City Walk is higher.”

Frank Porter’s average Airbnb rent:
One bedroom: Dh524 to Dh809 
Two bedroom: Dh682 to Dh1,052 
Three bedroom: Dh784 to Dh1,210 

• Jumeirah Lake Towers

Dubai Marina’s little brother JLT resides on the other side of Sheikh Zayed road but is still close enough to beachside outlets and attractions. The big selling point for Airbnb renters, however, is that “it’s cheaper than Dubai Marina”, Mr Grudziecki says.

Frank Porter’s average Airbnb rent:
One bedroom: Dh422 to Dh629 
Two bedroom: Dh549 to Dh818 
Three bedroom: Dh631 to Dh941

• Palm Jumeirah

Palm Jumeirah's proximity to luxury resorts is attractive, especially for big families, says Mr Grudziecki, as Airbnb renters can secure competitive rates on one of the world’s most famous tourist destinations.

Frank Porter’s average Airbnb rent:
One bedroom: Dh503 to Dh770 
Two bedroom: Dh654 to Dh1,002 
Three bedroom: Dh752 to Dh1,152 

MATCH INFO

What: Brazil v South Korea
When: Tonight, 5.30pm
Where: Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae

Updated: June 13, 2024, 10:24 AM`