Tuesday, May 21th | 11:00 - 12:30
Location: The Palestinian Museum
Language: Arabic

Join us in a conversation with the artist Mohamed Saleh Khalil in dialogue with the artist Bashar Khalaf. They will discuss Live Broadcast, Khalil’s exhibition that is included in the This is Not an Exhibition artistic demonstration being held at the Palestinian Museum. The meeting discusses the experience of the artist Khalil and will include an overview of “Mohamed Saleh Khalil”, a book that covers the artist’s most significant works and includes some contemplative articles on his art. All proceeds will be allocated to Gaza’s artists.

The exhibition embodies the annihilation of Palestine ongoing for decades, through paintings that we can date back at will: to ten years ago, twenty, fifty, seventy-five, and under any overarching topic of our choice: The First Intifada, the Second Intifada, the war on Jenin Camp, one of the wars on Gaza, or even the ongoing genocide today. The artist connects those witnessing the genocide in Gaza from afar to those bearing witness up close, conveying their voices through paintings bursting out of their frames, manifesting in flesh and blood.
 

Mohamed Saleh Khalil

Khalil was born in Al-Zarqa, Jordan in 1960 to parents from Al-Walaja, near Bethlehem, and raised in Damascus. In 1988 he received his MA in Fine Art from Dresden, Germany, specialising in painting, etching, engraving, and printing techniques.

He returned to Damascus and held his first solo exhibition before moving to Nicosia, Cyprus, where he spent the next 5 years developing his skills and participating in several solo and group exhibitions. The year 1996 had a great impact on his life, as Khalil was able to return to his homeland for the first time in his life. He settled in Ramallah, where he established his studio and founded the Young Artists Forum, where he taught art to talented children and teenagers. He also heads the Fine Arts Program at the Ministry of Culture.

Inspired by German Expressionism, Khalil paints with wide brush strokes and carefully selects the colours to be distributed across his large paintings. The themes of his works are inspired by daily events taking place in Palestine and around the world.

Bashar Khalaf

Palestinian artist and visual arts educator, Bashar Khalaf was born in Rantis town (northwestern Ramallah) in 1991. He holds a BFA from Al-Quds University. Khalaf works and lives in Ramallah.  

Khalaf has produced several artworks over the course of years, among which are Al Hoash Auction (2015), Assassination (2018), and Near I Can’t See, and Far Away Right in Front of Me (2017). He also participated in several solo and group exhibitions, among which are: 2016 Shadow of the Shadows and 2018 Perceptual Immunity at Gallery One Ramallah, and his 2019 In Search for a Self- Portrait exhibition at Zawaya Gallery in Ramallah.
Khalaf won the “YAYA” Young Artist Competition Award (2014) awarded by the A. M. Qattan Foundation, the Ismail Shammout Award for Fine Arts (2015), and the Young Creators’ State Appreciation Award (2017). 

*Mohamed Saleh Khalil, Dying series #1, 2024. Mixed media on canvas, 100 x 80 cm.