Guest Essay, Forge Project NY
Artistic Solidarity: Tracing Manifestations through the Lens of the 1978 International Art Exhibition for Palestine in Beirut
Accompanying In Our Thousands, In Our Millions: Cultural Censorship and Anti-Colonial Solidarity with Palestine, a conversation on the current climate in the global art world from Indigenous and Palestinian perspectives.
The 1978 International Art Exhibition for Palestine, organized by the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Plastic Arts Section, emerged as a beacon of cultural and artistic resilience within Beirut. Held at the Beirut Arab University, the exhibition showcased the works of artists from nearly 30 countries, transcending geopolitical boundaries to express solidarity with the Palestinian cause. Despite the chaos of the times, the exhibition underscored Beirut’s enduring role as an important node in the cartography of the international Left, highlighting its capacity to foster cultural exchange and resistance even amidst conflict.
Forty years later, Beirut-based curators Rasha Salti and Kristine Khouri embarked on a curatorial investigation to revisit the history of the 1978 “museum in exile,” through their exhibition Past Disquiet at the Sursock Museum of Beirut in 2018. Through their exhibition, they aimed to illuminate forgotten histories of shared struggle, activate complex networks of solidarity, and provoke questions about art and political engagement.
Selections from the original 1978 exhibition catalogue, from the Palestine Museum Archive.
“Daily Life in Occupied Territories,” drawings by Calude Lazard and the Cooperative Malassis, 1978, from the Palestine Museum Archive.
The significance of the original 1978 exhibition extended beyond its physical location, serving as a rallying cry for justice and liberation on a global scale. The participation of international artists including Joan Miró, Antoni Tàpies, and Julio Le Parc added another layer of political symbolism, emphasizing the widespread support for the Palestinian cause within the international arts community.
The inauguration of the exhibition predated the Israeli invasion of Beirut in 1982, which resulted in the destruction of PLO sites, including the space where the artworks were later stored. In an Artforum interview with Khouri by Beirut-based cultural worker Rayya Badran, the curator recounts how Abdul Hay Mosallam, a Palestinian artist who lived between Beirut and Damascus, picks up as many of the works as he could and drives them in a pickup truck to Palestinian artist Mona Saudi’s house.
The resonance of the Palestinian struggle, alongside the dissent against the U.S. Vietnam War, the apartheid regime in South Africa, and the support for dictatorships in Chile and Central America by the United States, provided fertile ground for artistic expression. The 1978 Beirut exhibition emerged as a nexus wherein these socio-political movements converged with their corresponding artistic manifestations. Within one rendition of the exhibition’s press release, the verb “suture” was deliberately employed, encapsulating the intent to mend the fabric of societal ruptures and divisions. This conceptual framework persists as a cornerstone of the exhibition’s underlying motivations, indicative of a broader critical discourse surrounding the role of art in addressing and rectifying socio-political fractures.
International art exhibition for Palestine, a catalogue issued by the PLO’s Unified Information, 1978, from the Palestine Museum Archive.
The 2018 exhibition’s exploration of these historical artifacts reflected a broader interest in uncovering Beirut’s past and its relevance to the present. It highlighted the role of grassroots solidarities initiated by major PLO figures, who understood the pivotal role of artists in imagining political change. The establishment of a plastic arts section within the PLO’s Unified Information Office exemplified this belief, as artists rallied around the Palestinian cause through exhibitions, posters, and artworks.
Through their meticulous research and curation, Salti and Khouri aimed to inspire questions about prevailing perceptions of art and political engagement, while also surfacing complex cartographies of solidarity. Their intention was not to present a revisionist narrative but rather to re-create a world where art played a vital and central role in giving voice to shared struggles against dictatorships, occupation, and imperialism.
Such curatorial practices exemplify the imperative of embracing pluralistic methodologies and divergent perspectives within the realm of art-historical inquiry, thereby engendering a more nuanced and inclusive comprehension of artistic phenomena. Recently, the decision to disinvite AfD politicians, a right-wing extremist party from the Berlinale Film Festival’s opening ceremony prompted by the withdrawal of filmmakers as a gesture of protest. Similarly, the commitment of certain publishing spaces including Momus and Poetry Project NYC to the Palestinian Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) aligns with a broader movement advocating for Palestinian rights and protesting against Israeli government policies.
"ماتا"، لوحة للفنان روبيرتو ماتا، 1978. from the Palestine Museum Archive.
The evolving landscape of art-historical scholarship within certain geopolitical contexts has historically adhered to conservative intellectual paradigms and theoretical frameworks. However, a burgeoning cohort of emergent art historians, curators and visual anthropologists portends a transformative trajectory in the comprehension of modern art historical discourse. The resultant discourse thus engenders a reconfiguration of entrenched narratives, fostering both intellectual emancipation and scholarly gratification through the revelation of unexpected syntheses and transnational dialogues that emerged in the face of global imperialism.
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