Resurgent Nahda:
The Arab Exhibitions in Mandate Jerusalem
Darat al-Funun, Amman, Jordan
11 June – 30 September 2024
Curator: Nadi Abusaada
Assistant Curator: Tala Alhaj
Photography: Tala Alhaj and Darat al-Funun
Featured Works
Rushdi al-Imam al-Husseini, Abdul Qadir Al Rassam, Zulfa al-Saadi, Yousef al-Zughbi, Jamal Badran, Sophie Halaby, Khalil Halaby, Nijmeh Kharoufeh, David Ohanessian, Nicola Saig, Fathi Safwat, Jawad Salim, Lorna Salim, Mary Salman, Jamila Salman.
Featured Collections
Khalid Shoman Collection, George al-A’ma Collection, Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts Collection, Zaina Zarour and Faris Shomali Collection, Fathi Safwat Family Collection, Jamal Badran Family Collection, Rushdi al-Imam al-Husseini Archive, Ibrahimi Collection.
Resurgent Nahda pays homage to the two Arab exhibitions organized in Mandate Jerusalem in 1933 and 1934, held as several Arab countries were at the height of their struggle against colonialism. In Palestine, the timing was especially critical. Executed between the major Palestinian revolts of 1929 and 1936, the exhibitions took place during intense confrontations with Zionists and the British. Despite colonial pressures against them, these exhibitions showcased a remarkable Nahda in the economic, industrial, and artistic sectors, facilitating Palestinian-Arab exchange and underscoring Arab unity amidst the region’s geopolitical division after World War I.
This research-based exhibition brings together materials sourced from dispersed archives and collections, breathing a new life into the legacy of the 1930s exhibitions. It tells the story of this pivotal moment of regional exchange through three primary lenses: the political landscape of Mandate Palestine, artistic and artisanal contributions, and the architectural legacy of the Palace Hotel they were held in. It also highlights links to other regional exhibitions, particularly the 1932 Agro-Industrial Exhibition in Baghdad. In doing so, the exhibition delves into the personal and professional journeys of key Palestinian and Arab figures—including artists, craftspeople, architects, and journalists—whose paths intersected with one another and with the histories of the two Arab exhibitions.
Amid the urgency of the current political moment, Resurgent Nahda serves as a poignant invitation to contemplate why and how, during the political tumult of the British Mandate years, Palestinians asserted their political, economic, and cultural ties with the broader Arab world. The ongoing Nakba since 1948 caused a great rupture in these connections. This exhibition treats the two Arab exhibitions as windows into the material worlds that existed before this rupture, inviting us to reflect on what might have been and what still could be.
