A Conversation with Nabil Anani, "The Land and I", Zawyeh Gallery Dubai, by James Scarborough
March 04, 2025
In "The Land and I" at Zawyeh Gallery Dubai, Palestinian artist Nabil Anani transcends conventional landscape painting through his innovative use of organic materials. His work transforms the physical elements of Palestine - wood, straw, herbs, seeds - into powerful statements about identity and belonging.
Anani's technique of incorporating these natural materials directly into his paintings creates a literal and metaphorical fusion of art and earth. This materiality serves dual purposes. It grounds the work in Palestinian soil while it projects a vision of an unencumbered future. The artist's deliberate omission of checkpoints, barriers, and settlements from his landscapes acts as both political statement and aspirational dream.
The exhibition's power lies in its ability to present resistance through beauty. Anani's landscapes function as living documents of Palestinian connection to the land, challenging narratives of displacement through their very existence. His artistic evolution, from early experimentation during the First Intifada to his current masterful manipulation of natural media, reflects a deepening engagement with themes of identity and freedom.
Through these works, Anani reconstructs Palestine not merely as a geographical space but as an ongoing relationship between people and place. The exhibition ultimately serves as both meditation on present reality and visualization of future possibility, where the land itself becomes both medium and message.
Below follows an email conversation with Nabil Anani.
JS: Your use of natural materials dates back to the First Intifada. How has your approach to these materials evolved over the decades?
NA: During the First Intifada, there were weekly statements from the National Leadership encouraging Palestinians to resist occupation through various means. These included civil disobedience, self-reliance, cultivating the land, raising livestock, boycotting Israeli and Western goods, and reconnecting with the earth.
As artists, our role was clear. Four of us decided to return to the land and base our artistic production on locally available materials, without relying on traditional art supplies.
I chose sheepskin leather as my primary medium, while others used clay, straw, and wood-burning techniques. I noticed how powerful this material was in expressing the era’s realities. It also freed me artistically, allowing for new techniques and innovative ideas. These materials didn’t require oil or acrylic paints but instead absorbed colors derived from nature—henna, indigo, natural dyes, and even spices from the kitchen like turmeric and sumac.
This experience later inspired me to continue incorporating these materials onto canvas, especially in my depictions of Palestinian landscapes.
JS: What inspired your decision to depict landscapes without visible signs of occupation?
NA: As both an artist and a person living in Palestine, I deeply love this land despite the occupation. My daily reality includes walls, iron gates, military checkpoints, and severe movement restrictions between different areas, especially Jerusalem, which I consider a crucial source of artistic inspiration. I haven’t been able to visit it in ten years.
These daily challenges led me to focus on painting the landscapes of Ramallah and other villages in the West Bank, relying on photographs, memory, and sometimes imagination.
At the same time, I became acutely aware of Palestine’s changing geography due to the separation wall stretching from north to south and the hundreds of settlements disfiguring the landscape. I consciously exclude them from my paintings to preserve the beauty of the land I once knew.
JS: How does your childhood in Halhul influence your artistic perspective?
NA: My childhood in Halhul left an unforgettable imprint on me. I believe every artist carries within them a child who remains deeply connected to the place that shaped them during the most sincere phase of their life. This influence has stayed with me over the decades.
Life in the Palestinian countryside shaped my perception of the village, with its homes built through communal efforts (“Al-Ouna”), its domed rooftops, valleys, and mountains. I also vividly remember the women dressed in embroidered thobes with fiery and heavenly colors, reminiscent of Paul Klee’s palette. These images surface naturally in my work, even after all these years.
JS: How do you see the relationship between texture and meaning in your paintings?
NA: For me, texture is a crucial visual element, intricately connected to both color and the overall composition of a painting. It also has an organic relationship with the subject matter—blending rough textures with luminous colors creates a contrast between struggle, hope, and love for the land.
JS: What role does color play in your representation of Palestinian landscapes?
NA: Color is the most important element in constructing my paintings. I derive my palette from nature—the soil, rocks, and the vibrant hues found in Palestinian birds, animals, and flowers—all of which provide a sense of peace and hope.
JS: How do you balance personal memory with collective experience in your work?
NA: While personal memory remains the foundation, I also explore other artistic traditions through social media and historical references, drawing inspiration from both Eastern and Western art. However, I ensure that my influences do not overshadow my own artistic identity and vision.
JS: Your work suggests a strong connection between identity and geography. How has this relationship evolved in your practice?
NA: Culture, in general, is a vital component of identity, and art is one of its most powerful expressions. Of course, I acknowledge the significance of other creative fields—cinema, literature, music, architecture, and more—all of which contribute to shaping a national identity. Without cultural icons like Mahmoud Darwish and Edward Said, how would the world recognize Palestine?
The exhibition ran until January 12, 2025. Zawyeh Gallery Dubai is located in Dubai. For more information, click here.