The New Visions group was established during the First Palestinian Intifada in 1989, a period when everything echoed a call for freedom. During this monumental era, an entire people rose above their profound wounds, united in declaring: "No voice rises above the voice of the Intifada".
As Palestinians, we forged new meanings for our existence, drawing closer to our essence. What took place at that time transcended the ordinary into the extraordinary, enabling everyone—poets, writers, freedom fighters, students, teachers, workers, farmers, political factions, and artists alike—to declare: “The land is our bread, our salt, our path, and our ultimate goal”. The First Intifada was not a singular, fleeting moment, but the culmination of a bitter struggle that lasted nearly forty years. Amidst the height of pain, hope was born; hope that lifted its bearers toward the beauty of possibility, emerging from the depths of the impossible.
At the height of this event, four artists came together and chose to speak the language of the people. They embarked on "an aesthetic quest to elevate artistic vision to a level that affirms the artist’s inner freedom and ability to envision beauty and truth in the midst of their daily struggle for freedom". The primary material for their art became the land they sought to free, using its resources to create art that resembles its time, breaking free from the conventional framework towards the truly every day, with its realism and symbolism.
Marking the 37th anniversary of the glorious First Intifada and the 35th anniversary of the establishment of New Visions group, we unveil the Murals created by these four artists: Vera Tamari, Suleiman Mansour, Tayseer Barakat, and Nabil Anani. These murals remind us of the revolutionary moments of thought, and reinforce that experimentation and creativity are ongoing forces—essences of life itself. They are the rocks of our mountains and plains, which the children of this land will continue to carry against the darkness of tanks and the enemy’s weapons.
These murals were produced during a war like no other, a war that seeks to destroy an entire nation—its people, homes, universities, libraries, streets, and artists’ studios. As Palestinians, we have always chosen to run toward the heart of the battle, and to pull from its darkness whatever we can salvage. The fiercer the war became, the fiercer our determination grew to live life and create art that will outlast all wars combined; art that will remain long after the war ends.
These murals were born as the foundation of the Palestinian Museum's permanent exhibition. They will remain on its walls as long as it lasts, as a token of gratitude to the New Visions group artists who led a movement of renewal while drawing strength from their people’s magnificent heritage. The creation of these Murals also involved young artists and volunteers from the Faculty of Art, Music, and Design at Birzeit University, in a strategic partnership where the university provided students, spaces, workshops, and equipment. This initiative embodied the spirit of 'aouna' (assistance) and voluntary social solidarity, which formed the essence and core of the First Intifada.
(From the founding statement of New Visions group, 1989.)
