Culture

Mahmoud Alhaj’s ‘Control Anatomy’ to be shown at Zawyeh Gallery Ramallah

29 Jul 2024

A composition titled Fragile 2.

Muhammad Yusuf, Features Writer

Zawyeh Gallery, with spaces in Alserkal Avenue, Dubai and Ramallah, Palestine, is hosting in Ramallah ‘Control Anatomy’, an exhibition of the works of Mahmoud Alhaj where he examines the colonial violence and mechanisms of domination and control imposed on Palestinian geography over the years (July 30 – Nov. 15). It is curated by Rana Anani. Alhaj’s projects preceded the intensiﬁed use of the current oppressive tools, which has ultimately led to the ongoing genocide and atrocities in the Gaza Strip over the past many months. He views the technology of violence production as the culmination of an ongoing politico-military workshop organised by the coloniser, to invent the most violent methods to subjugate Palestinians.

He employs various digital media techniques, including collage, photography and printing, showcasing proficiency in using digital archives with attention to detail. The exhibition features a collection of projects, including ‘Violence 24/7’, ‘402 of Gray’ and ‘Fragile’. The projects rely on images that might have faded from memory of others – or, as he says, which “have lost their luster in the eyes of viewers and faded into the back doors of internet search engines” but have repercussions on himself and those around him. He reintroduces the images within a contemporary artistic narrative.

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He relies on dissecting low-quality images of human rights abuses, violence and colonial strategies, both visually and conceptually. He then reconstructs them through an intensive digital process, creating new digital works that provide unexpected results, open to diverse interpretations. It involves integrating them with images and materials from other sources such as Google Maps, aerial reconnaissance shots, and empty medicine pills sheets.

He layers photographs taken over the years and compares them to uncover changes over time. It is similar to the activity of an investigative detective on a highly purposed mission. He gathers traces left by colonial strategies, including the distortion of landscape and the methods of control and domination. He ﬁnds damning evidence in various places such as the wall, sewage dumps, military barracks, watchtowers, streets, roundabouts, borders … The works source images that aim “to keep pace with the crazy ﬂow of violent events” around the artist.

Mahmoud Alhaj was born in Gaza.

In his project ‘402 of Gray’, Alhaj dissects the apartheid wall, visually integrating and comparing it to the “gray” siege imposed on Gaza for many years. Says he: “I didn’t realise what it meant to be surrounded by all this gray, which became the pigment of everything. The wall is gray, the siege is gray, the bombing is gray, the buildings are gray, the people are gray, politics and money are gray. Everything is gray ...” He undertook his project ‘Fragile’, being impacted by the quarantine following the spread of COVID-19. He notes that while the world was forced into a state of quarantine, Gaza had endured many years of colonial quarantine.

He uses empty medicine blister packs which resemble tall buildings with small windows, to express what he says is the numbness the world feels towards Gaza and the urgent need for its mental and physical healing, and reconnect with its humanity and conscience. The isolation of Gaza from the world also created a need for Palestinian people to escape reality and create alternative worlds by resorting to medication. In ‘Violence 24/7’, Alhaj resorts to dismantling and reconstructing speciﬁc parts of the violence archive of the military governor, spanning 1987 - 2023. He subjects the related images and materials to an intense digital treatment process. The strength of Alhaj’s projects lies in his foresight in studying violence technology - an issue of increasing importance in the Palestinian context as the genocide in Gaza intensiﬁes by the use of these very technologies.

Additionally, his work stands out due to his meticulous attention to detail and his ability to transcend the limitations of digital techniques. He resists easy allure such as manipulation, instead taking a more deliberate approach, utilising digital technology to serve his vision and ideas. Born in Gaza in 1990, he holds a BA in journalism and has worked as an art teacher at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, since 2017. He has produced six projects using photography, digital art and videos exhibited widely in Palestine, Europe, and the United States.

In 2022, his short experimental film ‘The Right to See’ was screened at the 35th Festival Les Instants Video in Marseille. In 2021, it was screened at the Cairo Video Festival, alongside a duo exhibition with Rob Voerman at Plaatsmaken studio in the Netherlands. His first solo show titled ‘402 Of Gray’ was held in Gaza, while his second solo show ‘Violence 24/7’ was held at Uxval Gochez Gallery in Barcelona, in 2024. He has participated in many collective exhibitions such as ‘Fenced Off’ by ICRC in 2022, ‘Art Now’ at Gallery One in 2021, ‘Art in Isolation’ at the Middle East Institute in Washington in 2020, ‘Contemplative Contrasts’ by A.M. Qattan Foundation, and ‘Orient 2.0’ at Pulchri Studio in the Netherlands in 2017.

He was artist in residence at the Royal Spanish Academy in Rome and the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague in 2021. He recently completed his residency at Cité International des Arts in Paris. Anani is a writer and researcher of visual arts and culture, based in Ramallah. She is an art professional who has occupied several positions in this field in Palestine, including the Head of Communications, Palestinian Museum 2013–16 and Associate Curator, Sharjah Biennial Ramallah Project Shifting Grounds, 2017.