THE tiny Palestinian fi gures are literally in limbo. Thousands hang from the ceiling, clutching their meagre possessions. Their exodus tapers off into the distance. This is what the Palestinians refer to as the Nakbah or catastrophe; the expulsion of the Palestinian people as the nation of Israel was founded.
The 3500 wax figures are part of a new work by a Scottish artist to mark the 60th anniversary of the displacement of the Palestinians in 1948.
When it opened in May at the Al Hoash Gallery in East Jerusalem, it moved visitors to tears. Now Return Of The Soul: The Nakbah Project is to make its international debut at the Edinburgh Art Festival on July 30.
The installation at the Patriothall Gallery is the work of Jane Frere. She traces her inspiration back to a visit to the Majdanek concentration camp near Lublin in Poland. After witnessing the placing of Israeli flags near the crematorium, she followed what she calls the "Jewish narrative" until she arrived in Palestine asking questions about the effect of the founding of Israel in 1948.
In conjunction with Al Hoash gallery, she set up workshops in Palestinian refugee camps and worked with individuals ranging from young artists to craftswomen. She asked them to collect family stories so that every fi gure they made would signify an elderly relative.
She said: "I wanted it to represent that moment of exile, of history."
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
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