Bashir Makhoul: Al Hejara 

Bashir Makhoul, a Manchester-based artist, currently has a major exhibition of his work touring to galleries in the north of England and Portsmouth. Thrashing about for some sort of label to pin on him, Makhoul is frequently identified as being a ‘Palestinian’ artist. But given the highly charged and highly problematic media-induced associations with the word ‘Palestinian’, the label carries enormous drawbacks and severely limits the readings of Makhoul’s work… 

…One recognises instantly the familiar colours of many of the Arab Gulf State flags (red, green, black and white). And one also sees the consistent and extensive use of visual devices derived from Islamic design and calligraphy. But even here, if we choose to read Makhoul’s work only on such superficial levels, we do so at our own risk, because beyond our first impressions there lies a profound and highly charged collection of ideas.

Perhaps his most polemical or didactic works are his 1990 canvases, including Al-Hejara and Aftal. These paintings consist of seemingly eclectic geometric formations of the Pan-Arab colours of red, green, black and white. But what may appear to us as being simply abstracted shapes and colours are, in Makhoul’s native environment, profoundly politicised works. Because within Israel, the use of these colours is regarded as a seditious act and a punishable offence. The Israeli authorities view the colours as representing the Palestinian flag and, by immediate implication, the Palestinian struggle; and all other meanings or readings are evacuated from this colour combination. Yet the use of such colours within a northern art gallery appears no les charged and no less vigorous… 

Elsewhere in the exhibition, Makhoul has created a haunting and melancholy installation which largely consists of enlarged reproductions of old Islamic coinage and numerous clay vessels, such as those commonly found in domestic use throughout the Arab world, systematically cut in two down the middle. But despite this dissection, the pots refuse to yield their secrets, leaving us frustrated. They show us only that notions of memory, identity, history, belonging and loss are indeed elusive and vexing concerns.

The above extracts are from a review by Eddie Chambers of Bashir Makhoul: Al-Hejaratouring exhibition. The review appeared in  Art Monthly, London, Number 168, July/August 1993: 26-27 [RTTJ]