OTHERWISE OCCUPIED

Author Yang Rui

Otherwise Occupied is an exhibition of Palestinian artists organized by al Hoash as part of the Venice Biennale 2013. Curated by Bruce Ferguson and Rawan Sharaf, the exhibition features two internationally renowned Palestinian artists, Bashir Makhoul and Aissa Deebi.

Both artists were born inside the 1948 borders, in the margins of another state in their homeland and outside the occupied West Bank and the centres of contemporary Palestinian culture. They have emigrated to become citizens of other states operating in a globalised art world. They still think of themselves as Palestinians and are in search of new ways to imagine the nation from a distance.

Palestine, long under occupation, has been constructed by the imaginary of what are widely fragmented communities across the world; a national designation that includes a far-flung diaspora, a huge population of refugees, as well as members of an indeterminate territorial authority under occupation and even a large number of Israeli citizens.

Art is capable of occupying cultural spaces that are otherwise inaccessible or invisible. Otherwise Occupied describes other ways of imagining the nation outside and beyond the conflict; it is therefore a means of artistic and critical thinking through the de-territorialisation of Palestine. To be otherwise occupied is to be busy elsewhere, to be engaged in activities outside the programme. For these artists this means making work that does not necessarily comply with the agendas determined by the occupation. The 'otherwise' for them is an imaginary, parallel space beyond the claims of nationalism that is opened up by global cultural events such as the Venice Biennale.