Abdul Hay Mosallam Zarara is a self-taught Palestinian artist who has meticulously worked on archiving the recent histories of the Palestinian people. He was born in 1933 at Al-Dawayima, near Al Khalil, in Palestine, and currently lives and works in Amman. Mosallam recreates scenes from daily life in his lost Palestinian home that have remained vivid in his mind since his expulsion from the village of Al-Dawayima in 1948. Mosallam has also produced extensive documentation of the recent Palestinian struggle and liberation movements in the form of painted reliefs. This “painted archive” corpus is valid as a first representation of a community writing its own history and not just showcasing it as a collection of images.
His Life
Mosallam didn’t receive training at any institution. Working with a very particular technique, based on painted reliefs, Mosallam recalls from his days in the village scenes of traditions and celebrations, and from his years exile scenes of resistance and fighting. He worked at the maintenance department of the Jordanian Air Force before joining the Palestinian Liberation Organization in the late 60s, which sent him and his family to Libya. In Libya, Mosallam learned his special technique and turned to art. The hard conditions of life in the Diaspora, the struggle for Palestine, direct and artistic militance, are all factors which determine Mosallam's artistic production in both subject matter and technique. For many years he had his studio in the Palestinian quarter of Damascus, still called “the Yarmouh Camp”, together with the late Palestinian artist Mustafa Al Hallaj. Since 1992, he has lived and worked in Amman, Jordan. Mosallam's subjects reflect his life, he worked while living in the refugee camps, at first in Lebanon and later in Syria. He worked under the bombing during the siege of Beirut in 1982, and he succeeded in the holding an exhibition in the middle ruins of the city. At that time, his subjects were linked with the feelings and needs of the people who shared that hard life with him. Through his work, Abdul-Hay strengthens the resistance of a people who are struggling on all levels to survive. His paintings depict the life of the Palestinians – the village weddings, Ramadan nights, gatherings, farmers and traditional dancers, all vividly painted on detailed reliefs and inscribed with traditional songs and poems. In the works of Mosallam, the woman appears almost as the reason for life for the man. She embraces the man, often a palm tree at whose roots a man is seated playing music for her. At other times, she is a boat, naked, with long hair, carrying the man. Always, the woman appears stronger than the man as if the artist is going against the current, challenging the subordinate role of women in the Arab World.
Technique
Mosallam uses very simple tools and materials in line with the sparseness of his life an exile and a fighter. A mixture of glue and sawdust makes up the reliefs. The paintings are very finely detailed, he sculpts the most minute details of body and face features. In 1986, a film, “Gold Dust”, was made by Mohammad Mawas on his works. The title of the film points to the contrasts between the poverty of the raw materials and the value of their transformation in the artist’s work.
Artistic Value
Abdul Hay Mosallam work is a complete archive of Palestine's heritage and struggle. His work is well known in the Arab countries where he had more than 30 solo exhibitions, and participated in a great number of collective exhibitions with Arab and international artists. His work was shown in solo and group exhibitions including two in Libya, six exhibitions in Damascus, one in Aleppo, Homs, Latakia, Mesyaf and Dair Attieh between 1981 and 1991. In Beirut one of which was during the 1982 siege of Beirut when he exhibited under the bombardment in Fakahani street in west Beirut. Many exhibitions in Amman at Darat Al Funun, Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, and Dar Al Anda, and in Ibrbid, Jerash and other cities. In Tehran, Gutenberg, Helsinki and Stockholm, Oslo, Zurich and Bern, and Huston. He also showed at the "Jean Genet" show at Nottingham Contemporary, the Sharjah Biennial, "Here and Elsewhere" at the New Museum, and at "Index of Tensional and Unintentional Love of Land" curated by Ala Younis who has been working closely with the artist since 2003 on documenting his work, and on indexing, archiving and digitizing his legacy. His artwork was also featured in the Palestinian art exhibition in the U.S. at the Station Museum of Contemporary Art in Houston, Texas in an exhibition titled: "Made in Palestine" ; curated by Gabriel Diego Delgado and Tex Kerschen under the Directorship of Jim Harithas. His artistic value has been recognized by American and European critics and journalists who wrote about his works in various magazines. In addition to his ongoing work, Abdul Hay dreams of establishing a museum – not only for his own works and not only to collect works from the past, but as a place where one could house the present aspirations of his people. Together with 33 Japanese artists, he participated in an exhibition in Tokyo about the Sabra-Shatilla massacre, and many of his works have been used internationally as posters, calendars and postcards.
