Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Jumana Husseini (1932-2018) was a Palestinian visual artist and sculptor born in Jerusalem . She has participated in group exhibitions since the Sursock Museum group exhibition in Beirut in 1960. She studied painting, sculpture, and ceramics for only three months, while studying political science at the American University of Beirut . She began working continuously at home alone. She held her first exhibition in London in 1965. All her drawings are about Palestine and the working-class neighborhoods of Jerusalem . She paints horses, tigers, and leopards as symbols of revolution and return.
She studied stained glass art in Paris . Geometry appears in Jumana Al-Husseini's paintings, which are harmonious and balanced with Islamic influences.
She won numerous medals and had an extensive international exhibition record. Jumana Husseini died at her home in Paris on April 11, 2018, at the age of 86.
She studied painting, sculpture, and ceramics in Beirut and Paris. She is best known for her figurative paintings of Palestinian women and geometric houses in Jerusalem and Jericho , and her style has evolved from realistic to geometric, and since 1987, to abstract, with wavy, painted drawings evoking Arabic calligraphy .
Personal life
Jumana al-Husseini was born into a prominent Palestinian family. Her grandfather, Hajj Amin Jumana, was the Mufti of Jerusalem during the Mandate period and an important figure in the resistance against British and Zionist colonial rule.
In 1948, Jumana and her family were forced to leave Palestine as a result of the 1948 Nakba and settled in Beirut , Lebanon . In 1950, Jumana married. They had three sons.
Professional life
In 1953, Jumana began attending classes to earn a bachelor's degree in political science at the Beirut College for Women (now known as the Lebanese American University ). Shortly after beginning her studies at the Beirut College for Women, she transferred to the American University of Beirut to study art. Around this time, in 1954, the American University of Beirut established its Fine Arts Department, the first institution in Lebanon to offer academic art classes. In 1957, Jumana graduated from the American University of Beirut, and in 1960, she participated in her first group exhibition at the Sursock Museum .
During her time in Beirut, Jumana became involved with a group of local artists whom Palestinian historian Kamal Boullata called the Ras Beirut Artists .
In 1964 and 1967, she also participated in the Autumn Salon in Sursock, in the Alexandria Biennale in 1969, in Kuwait in 1973, in Baghdad in 1974, and in Venice in 1979.
Over the course of her four-decade artistic career, Jumana has exhibited her work in solo and group exhibitions in more than thirty different countries. Her works are currently held in private collections and museums around the world, including the Barjeel Art Foundation , and the Dalloul Art Foundation.
Artistic style
Jumana's art revolves around depicting Jerusalem, often using geometric patterns and repetitive motifs. Her paintings often depict Jerusalem without any people inside, giving a dreamlike feel. Common motifs in her work include "horses that always find their way home; butterflies that are never caged; and pomegranates, a symbol of fertility and good luck." She uses various materials in her practice, from painting to sculpture to ceramics and embroidery. Later in her career, her work became increasingly abstract, creating mixed media pieces using shapes, words, and "outlines." Her early works were typically more varied than her later works, which were darker and more abstract. Notably, Jumana often combined oil painting with embroidery, blurring the distinction between fine art practice and crafts, which often carried a "less than" connotation. Throughout her artistic career, her works explored her relationship with her home city of Jerusalem, her relationship with the city, and her forced displacement from it.
The materiality and subject matter of her work were also influenced by the political events surrounding her. During the Lebanese Civil War , when she could not obtain oil paints, she began working with watercolors instead. Later, she abandoned painting entirely and turned to embroidery. Her work from this time explores her family history and images from her childhood. In 1982, when she was forced to move to Paris due to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon during the Lebanese Civil War , she began using Arabic calligraphy in her work as a means of representing "letters to my mother buried in Jerusalem." In 1991, while living in Paris, she began experimenting with stained glass and studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts .
Featured Exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
Joël Mortier-Vallatt Gallery, Paris, France (2004)
Darat al Funun, Amman, Jordan (2002)
Al-Ma'mal Exhibition , Jerusalem, Palestine (2002)
Qattan Foundation, Ramallah, Palestine (2002)
Anadil Exhibition, Jerusalem, Palestine (1993)
Arab Heritage Exhibition, Dhahran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (1984)
Woodstock Fair, London, UK (1965)
Group exhibitions
Rituals of Signs and Transitions (1975-1995), Darat al Funun, Amman, Jordan (2015)
Abstract , Cap, Kuwait, Kuwait (2013)
Nabd Gallery, Amman, Jordan (2008)
Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman, Jordan (2002)
Arab World Institute, Paris, France (1989)
Source
Achievements and Awards
- Years in active
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