Past Disquiet: Artists, International Solidarity and Museums in Exile (Museum under Construction)

The International Art Exhibition for Palestine took place in Beirut in 1978 and mobilized international networks of artists in solidarity with anti-imperialist movements of the 1960s and ’70s. In that era, individual artists and artist collectives assembled collections; organized touring exhibitions, public interventions and actions; and collaborated with institutions and political movements. Their aim was to lend support and bring artistic engagement to protests against the ongoing war in Vietnam, the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile, and the apartheid regime in South Africa, and they were aligned in international solidarity for anti-colonial struggles. Past Disquiet brings together contributions from scholars, curators and writers who reflect on these marginalized histories and undertakings that took place in Baghdad, Beirut, Belgrade, Damascus, Paris, Rabat, Tokyo, and Warsaw. The book also offers translations of primary texts and recent interviews with some of the artists involved. Cover 2 Title Page 5 Table of Content 6 Insert 10 Part 1. INTRODUCING PAST DISQUIET 11 BARTOMEU MARÍ 12 ANSELM FRANKE 16 JOANNA MYTKOWSKA 18 KRISTINE KHOURI AND RASHA SALTI 20 Part 2. ON PAST DISQUIET 24 KRISTINE KHOURI AND RASHA SALTI: Transnational Solidarity Networks and Speculative Histories: 1960s–1980s 25 Part 3. ESSAYS/INTERVIEWS/ DOCUMENTS 68 SLIMAN MANSOUR: Interview by Mohanad Yaqubi on behalf of the editors 69 REEM SHILLEH AND MOHANAD YAQUBI: Prologue: The London Film Connection 83 ALIA NAKHLI: Writing the History of Modern Arab Art 96 TONI MARAINI: Interview by Kristine Khouri and Rasha Salti 111 For a Cultural Humanism (1977) 118 In the Margins of the Biennial (1978) 122 Interview with Farid Belkahia (1978) 133 ANNEKA LENSSEN: Material Support: On Arab Artists’ Unions and Solidarity 137 NAKAJIMA IZUMI: Dream for Solidarity: Palestinian Art, JAALA, and Haryū Ichirō in the 1970s and 1980s 161 VLADIMIR TAMARI: Interview by Rasha Salti 182 DOMINIKA BLACHNICKA-CIACEK: Lost in Transition? The Forgotten History of Exchanges between Communist Poland and the Palestine Liberation Organization 192 KATARZYNA MATUL: “Art Instead of Politics”: Polish Artists “in Solidarity” with Palestine and Chile in the 1970s and 1980s 211 JÉRÔME BAZIN: Seeing Near, Seeing Far: What Do Images Tell Us About Solidarity in Popular Democracies? 229 JELENA VESIĆ: Trajectories of Solidarity in Time: The Week of Latin America in Belgrade, Students’ Cultural Center, 1977 249 SARA CATENACCI: Solidarity and Socially Engaged Art in 1970s Italy 270 CATHERINE DOSSIN: The Brush and the Kalashnikov: The Political Vision of the Jeune Peinture from Paris to Beirut 290 CAROLL YASKY AND CLAUDIA ZALDÍVAR: An Atypical Museum: The Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende 311 ELODIE LEBEAU: When Solidarity Became Art: The Museo Internacional de la Resistencia Salvador Allende (1975–90) 332 ERNEST PIGNON-ERNEST: Interview by Rasha Salti 354 MAEDA REI: Interview by Kristine Khouri and Rasha Salti 365 GORDON METZ AND ANDRÉ ODENDAAL: Interview by Rasha Salti 380 List of Works and Photo Credits 390 Aknowledgements 398 Colophon 401 Back Cover 414 The International Art Exhibition for Palestine took place in Beirut in 1978 and mobilized international networks of artists in solidarity with anti-imperialist movements of the 1960s and '70s. In that era, individual artists and artist collectives assembled collections; organized touring exhibitions, public interventions and actions; and collaborated with institutions and political movements. Their aim was to lend support and bring artistic engagement to protests against the ongoing war in Vietnam, the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile, and the apartheid regime in South Africa, and they were aligned with international solidarity for anticolonial struggles and the strife of the Palestinian people. Past Disquiet brings together contributions from scholars, curators and writers who reflect on these marginalized histories and undertakings that took place in Baghdad, Beirut, Belgrade, Damascus, Paris, Rabat, Tokyo, and Warsaw. The book also offers translations of primary texts and recent interviews with some of the artists involved.-- Provided by publisher Past Disquiet brings together contributions from scholars, curators and writers who reflect on artists' anti-imperialist movements of the 1960s and 70s and undertakings that took place in Baghdad, Beirut, Belgrade, Damascus, Paris, Rabat, Tokyo, and Warsaw.