Khaled Hourani PALESTINIAN, b. 1965
Bateekheh, 2021
Aqueous print on archival paper - 200 gsm
56 x 76 cm
Copyright The Artist
'With it, we shall resist, then we shall eat. If they confiscate it, they shall be the laughing stock of the world.' In Palestine, 'Bateekheh' (watermelon) symbolizes resistance, with its...
"With it, we shall resist, then we shall eat. If they confiscate it, they shall be the laughing stock of the world."
In Palestine, "Bateekheh" (watermelon) symbolizes resistance, with its colours reflecting the Palestinian flag.
Khaled Hourani's "Bateekheh", a variation on the colours of the Palestinian flag, tells the story of the Israeli occupation ban on using the colours of the flag in artworks in the 1970s.
After 1967 Israel banned all public displays of the Palestinian flag and its colours. Furthermore, any attempt to use the colours in publications/advertisements and even using old archived photographs could result in imprisonment or worse.
"Bateekheh" - with its red, green, black, and white colouring — represents the Palestinian flag, an art that tells this period of history.
Hourani's watermelon print immortalizes the 1970s ban on depictions of the Palestinian flag and its constituent red, green, white and black colours were illegal as an act of resistance.
According to Hourani, when artists asked if they could paint a flower in the colours of the flag, an Israeli officer replied that it was forbidden: "You may not even
paint a watermelon."
In Palestine, "Bateekheh" (watermelon) symbolizes resistance, with its colours reflecting the Palestinian flag.
Khaled Hourani's "Bateekheh", a variation on the colours of the Palestinian flag, tells the story of the Israeli occupation ban on using the colours of the flag in artworks in the 1970s.
After 1967 Israel banned all public displays of the Palestinian flag and its colours. Furthermore, any attempt to use the colours in publications/advertisements and even using old archived photographs could result in imprisonment or worse.
"Bateekheh" - with its red, green, black, and white colouring — represents the Palestinian flag, an art that tells this period of history.
Hourani's watermelon print immortalizes the 1970s ban on depictions of the Palestinian flag and its constituent red, green, white and black colours were illegal as an act of resistance.
According to Hourani, when artists asked if they could paint a flower in the colours of the flag, an Israeli officer replied that it was forbidden: "You may not even
paint a watermelon."