Monther Jawabreh is a Palestinian experimental visual artist whose works explore themes of resistance and transformation in the post-peace process era. His works are known locally and across the Arab world for their creativity and inspiration.
The stylistic, technical and material diversity of his repertoire reflects a spectrum of themes related to political turbulence, the base understandings of its actors, and their transformations over time.
His best known work, Molatham “As Once was Known”, was recognized locally and internationally for its characterization and encapsulation of political developments within the Palestinian revolution in its post-Oslo incarnation.
Jawabreh was born in Al ‘Aroub refugee camp near Hebron in 1976 and currently lives in the town of Bethlehem. His latest work focuses on concepts of destruction and construction, and includes Jawabreh taking some of his original artworks produced between the years 1998 and 2018, and cutting, reconfiguring and combining them into new works of art. In so doing, the new pieces disassemble and reassemble emotional and symbolic meanings related to their original meanings, contexts and times of production. For Jawabreh, the use of previous artworks as raw material for new art works serves to unleash new sources of meaning and creative energy both practically and through abstraction.
Jawabreh has participated in numerous artistic residencies throughout his career including “Paris – Cite des Arts”, which he credits as constituting an important turning point in his artistic career. He also was an artist in residence at Villa des Arts in Morocco and Sadaqa Artspace in Tunis where he cultivated different artistic techniques that would influence the structural and material choices of his works.
He has also engaged in performative works that explore the use of bodily energy as an expression of humanitarian and political themes.
Jawabreh participated as an actor and experimental artist in the internationally acclaimed Palestinian film "Ghost Hunting" directed by Raed Andoni. The film explores the life of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons and their experiences as survivors of torture. Jawabreh credits this role with influencing his approach to time, precision, and the extent of emotional energy invested in his later works.
Jawabreh has had a number of solo exhibitions in Palestine, Germany, Morocco, Lebanon, Tunisia and Jordan, in addition to his participation in joint shows in more than 20 countries. He is the recipient of the honourable mention award for his artwork titled ‘Elevation’ in 18th ASIAN ART Biennale Bangladesh 2018, His works are regularly been featured in the artistic press of Palestine and the Arab world, and he frequently engages in local artistic initiatives across various Palestinian cities and beyond. He also teaches art in several Palestinian universities including Al Quds University and Khadouri College among others. |
