Lecturer, Islamic Arts and Culture in the Arts and Ideas in the Humanities Program; Affiliate Faculty in Arab and Muslim American Studies and Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies
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About
"The Age of Disillusionment: Palestinian Art After the Intifadas"
This project examines the effect of the inter-Intifada period (1993-2000) on Palestinian art. I argue that political disillusionment resulting from the failed Oslo Accords (1993) and the outbreak of the Second Intifada (2000-2005) transformed the perspectives of the generations of Palestinians born after 1967 regarding the occupation, Palestinian government, and daily life. Furthermore, these shifting perspectives are articulated in the art produced in the post-Second Intifada period. This project ventures beyond the recognizable iconography of Palestine prevalent in the international art scene (such as the wall and checkpoints) to reveal the nuanced ways artists living and working under occupation and in diaspora address the most pressing issues of their post-Second Intifada world. The project traces three prominent trends common in the artwork of the post-Second Intifada period that articulate this shift: the circuity of time, the use of humor, and a reflexive critique of contemporary Palestinian society. Looking at these elements, both individually and in tandem, the project asks how, after the failure of Oslo, have Palestinian artists made visible the changing Palestinian attitudes about daily life under occupation and the potential for the future.
Sascha Crasnow is a Lecturer of Islamic Arts in the Residential College.