BRISTOL, England — Final 12 months, Bristol’s Arnolfini cancelled two Bristol Palestine Movie Pageant occasions, resulting in controversy and a boycott. After mediation with native teams comparable to Bristol Artists for Palestine, Arnolfini issued a press release apologizing for the choice and committing to upholding Palestinian freedom of expression sooner or later. Their present exhibition, Standing by the Ruins by Palestinian-Saudi artist Dana Awartani, seems (albeit obliquely) to signify that dedication bearing fruit.
It’s a stunning and understated present, offering a transferring foil to the horrifying pictures at the moment popping out of Israel’s struggle in Gaza. Awartani’s apply is anxious with the bodily lack of cultural heritage throughout the area, by means of acts of struggle and cultural censorship. Her work information websites of destruction by means of light reparation. For example, to create her massive suspended cloth work “Come, let me heal your wounds. Let me mend your broken bones” (2024), Awartani maps websites of architectural harm and destruction onto translucent textiles. She roughly tears holes within the cloth to correspond to those locations, earlier than fastidiously stitching them again along with color-matched thread. The ensuing work comprises an internet of half-concealed cartography, a peaceable and meticulous report of years of violent erasure.
Dana Awartani, “I Went Away and Forgot You. A While Ago I Remembered. I Remembered I’d Forgotten You. I Was Dreaming.” (2019), blended media set up with sand and pure pigment, single-channel video, with no sound
In “I Went Away and Forgot You…” (2017), Awartani makes use of an analogous course of in reverse, this time fastidiously crafting one thing earlier than destroying it herself. She recreated a conventional Islamic geometric tiled ground with coloured sand in a compelling act of meditative craftsmanship. Within the accompanying video work, she laid out an analogous sand design on the ground of a home in Jeddah’s outdated quarter, constructed within the mid-Twentieth century in a Western architectural type — a touch upon the colonial overtones of architectural modernization. The movie reveals her quietly and methodically sweeping the Islamic-style ground away, an efficient reminder of how heritage may be destroyed by means of gradual cultural change as a lot as by the sudden ravages of struggle.
For this exhibition, Awartani additionally produced “Standing by the Ruins” (2025), a brand new fee recreating the intricately patterned flooring of the Hamam al-Sammara in Gaza, one of many oldest tub homes within the area and now believed to have been destroyed by Israeli bombs. Like a lot of her different work, the set up varieties a significant act of remembrance and care — nevertheless it additionally reveals the frustration and futility of being compelled to “stand by” and watch from afar as Gaza and its individuals fall to ruins.
Dana Awartani, “Standing by the Ruins” (2025), compressed earth
Set up view of works by Dana Awartani
Set up view of works by Dana Awartani
Set up view of works by Dana Awartani
Dana Awartani: Standing by the Ruins continues at Arnolfini (16 Slim Quay, Bristol, United Kingdom) by means of September 28. The exhibition was curated by Gemma Brace in collaboration with the artist.
