6 ASIAN ART People F


ew people have held so many different positions in the art world in order to


promote art from Palestine and to establish a dynamic art scene in the Arab world such as Jack Persekian. Born in Jerusalem in 1962, he has relentlessly tried to ensure a certain visibility to artists from Palestine, opening the first commercial gallery space in Jerusalem in 1992 (Anadiel Gallery), working as the director of the Museum for Palestine and the Ministry of Culture in Palestine before starting the Al Ma’al Foundation for Contemporary Art in Jerusalem (a platform for artists), as well as initiating the Qualandiya Biennale in Palestine. On a broader scale, Jack Persekian has also been the director of the Sharjah Art Foundation as well as being the artistic director and curator of the Sharjah Biennale. Determined to stay in Jerusalem, in order to further develop the Al Ma’al Foundation’s activities and enhance the Qualandiya Biennale, Jack Persekian discusses his work and shares his views on contemporary art from Palestine with the Asian Art Newspaper.


ASIAN ART NEWSPAPER: You have held various positions in the art world, so currently is the Al Ma’al Foundation your primary undertaking? Jack Persekian: Yes, the Al Ma’mal Foundation is the centre of my attention, but I am also involved with Anadiel Gallery, the gallery that I founded in 1992, which is the precursor for the Al Ma’al Foundation.


AAN : In what capacity are you involved with the gallery? JP: As owner and director.


AAN: Since 1992, has the gallery been continually working, or have there been any interruptions? JP: Tere were some periods when the work of the gallery itself somehow stopped and the space was given over to the Al Ma’al Foundation, especially in the early years of the foundation from 1997 to 1998. It was leased intermittently during these years after the founding of the Al Ma’al Foundation as a gallery space, but it did not function as a proper commercial gallery. However, since the beginning of 2017, I have started to work again on the gallery, especially its financial structure in order to bring it back to being a commercial space.


AAN: You just mentioned a key word, which is essential for all the undertakings in the art world: funding. How do you do this for the Al Ma’al Foundation, as well as for the gallery? JP: Te foundation gets grants from donor countries like Sweden through the Swedish International Development Agency, from the European Union through the European Commission here in Jerusalem, and from the Netherlands through the local representative office of the Netherlands. I rely on these different donor countries and different donor agencies, as well as some local individuals who support the foundation.


AAN: Despite the fact that the funding is coming from abroad, do you still keep complete


AKh-48 (2008), Nida Sinnokrot, AK-47 parts, wooden crutch, sling, 122 x 30 cm JACK PERSEKIAN By Olivia Sand


independence in your artistic choices and on how you run the foundation? JP: Absolutely.


AAN: You launched the foundation in 1997. Are you satisfied with what you have accomplished so far – be this in terms of visibility, exposure, reputation, and programming? JP: Yes, I am satisfied, because from the beginning, we have set for ourselves certain goals, primarily to support local artists, to support the local art scene, and to bring an international dimension to the arts being produced and presented here, as well as making connections and building bridges with the world. I think that all of that has relatively been achieved. As for the space, we had also set for ourselves the mission of establishing an art centre in the old city of Jerusalem. It took many years, but finally in 2012, we were able to finalise the building, have it refurbished and ready. Since then, we have been operating from this new building inside the old part of the city.


AAN: Are you presently the only one embracing such a broad programme? JP: Tere are other foundations working on similar goals, but I would say that between the Al Ma’al Foundation and Anadiel Gallery, we are the main focal point on this front, especially vis-à-vis working with the international art scene and bridging the gap between inside and the outside. We are the main and most specialised institution that invites artists to create for special projects and artists we host in our residency. No other institution is actually doing this – at least not on the scale and regular basis that we are organising it.


AAN: Tere was a time when the contemporary art scene in Palestine seemed too conservative or too cut off from the outside world. How would you say things are looking today? JP: Tings are definitely looking much more interesting and much more open than what we knew of Palestinian art back in the 1970s and 80s. Tere is a young generation of artists who have been trained from the very beginning to be in touch with what was happening in the world, engaging with visiting artists and who are part of exchange programmes or residencies abroad. We now have a scene that is much more vibrant and far more connected with the international art scene.


ASIAN ART SUMMER QUARTER 2017


Jack Persekian. Photo: Martin Lebioda


AAN: At this stage, unless artists can rely on your assistance and help, is it easy for them to get their works out of the country to be seen on the international art market? JP: Not that easy, because unfortunately most artists do not yet have these connections with international galleries and are not represented at international art fairs. Only very few are represented and shown abroad, but the majority are not and they still have quite a long way to go on this front, especially when you are thinking of the market. Tere are far more artists represented and visible on the art scene when it comes to international exhibitions, biennales, shows, etc. Te commercial art market, however, is a different story.


AAN: Te contemporary art world is constantly looking for new geographical areas to explore. Tere has initially been a strong interest in China, India, Iran, and Iraq. Do you think Palestine could be next, or does the political situation have too strong an impact for dealers to embrace artists from Palestine?


definitely much more open and interesting


Things are


than they were in the 1970s and 80s


Baid Ghanam (sheep‘s testicle) (1996), Mona Hatoum, Jerusalem, C-Print


JP: In one way or another, what you said is correct. I think a lot of the art here – not all of it, but a lot of it – is addressing a particular situation, its complexity, the politics and that is not something that actually really sells commercially when we talk in pure market terms. It certainly has more presence and demand when it comes to curated exhibitions for museums or biennales or things like that, addressing certain particular issues that are raised in these group shows. However, this has nothing to do with the market.


AAN: Overall, how do these artists deal with censorship? Is there some kind of self-censorship? JP: Absolutely. I think the biggest issue is self-censorship, because artists are producing works and then, in the back of their minds, they are always thinking about what the local audience would say, or what this particular exhibition would want. Consequently, there are these broader frameworks that they try to fit their pieces in, which constitutes in one way or another a self-controlled monitored production. Tink about it in general terms: you cannot consider it as censorship, because this is system is also exercised by artists all over the world. Every artist is also thinking about a certain context. For example, if something is not accepted here, something else is not accepted elsewhere and vice-versa. Some issues that can be raised here cannot be raised in the United States and issues that can be raised in the United States cannot be raised here. It is something that is done, to various degrees of course, by almost all the artists we know. AAN: Have you encountered any


difficulties in terms of censorship? For example, a show being shut down, or an art work having to be removed? JP: Not here. Fortunately, here in Jerusalem, we have been lucky that we have not encountered any kind of censorship from anybody or from any side. Luckily, in Jerusalem in particular, we have what seems to be a place that falls right at the forefront of the conflict, but when it comes to art, as long as you are not dealing with armed struggle head-on, nobody from the authorities really cares or is interested. We have far more room to present things here in Jerusalem that may well be considered improper, or taboo, in other places in Palestine. For example, things that have to do with sexual issues, with nudity, religion would be quite prohibitive elsewhere to deal with.


AAN: Overall, does the local population embrace this young generation of artists ? JP: Te local population does not embrace these artists in large numbers. In specific circles of interest, yes, they are embracing them, but it is not work that is produced for the masses. Tere was a period in Palestine during the 1960s and 70s, when art was produced for the masses. Te poster art of that time was very popular and was also a way and means for the dissemination of certain ideas and the promotion of certain political positions. Tat is no longer the case, as artists and art are no longer used to achieving this.


AAN: At this stage, unless artists have established a connection with a gallery abroad, do they manage to survive? JP: Barely. I see that it is a very tough field. Only very, very few are able to live off the art they produce. Te rest are scrambling, trying to make ends meet by doing other things and having other jobs. It is not easy here at all. Te main problem is that there is no local market for artworks.


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