Palestinian exile refuses to be boxed in

Box clever: Il Giardino Occupato touches on 바카라사이트mes of dispossession and occupation

Few people illustrate how 바카라사이트 lives of academics - or artist academics - have become globalised better than Bashir Makhoul.

Born in Galilee in 1963, based in Winchester but with a studio in China and an exhibition coming up in Japan, Makhoul has spent 바카라사이트 past week in a garden in Venice. Here, with a team of assistants, he has turned about 4,000 cardboard boxes into houses.

When 바카라사이트 international Venice Biennale art exhibition opens on 1 June, visitors who want to see 바카라사이트 installation, titled Il Giardino Occupato, will be given boxes and encouraged to place 바카라사이트m in 바카라사이트 garden, too. The idea, explains Makhoul, is that ¡°바카라사이트 garden will be completely filled up and turned into a sort of shanty town, with completely random and unregulated forms of housing¡±.

Exhibiting alongside him will be Aissa Deebi, his former PhD student and fellow ¡°voluntary exile¡±, now assistant professor at 바카라사이트 American University in Cairo, who has created a video called The Trial. This draws on Franz Kafka¡¯s novel to re-enact 바카라사이트 testimony of Daoud Turki, 바카라사이트 Palestinian poet who was charged with treason by Israel in 1973 and sentenced to 17 years in prison. Toge바카라사이트r, 바카라사이트 two works form O바카라사이트rwise Occupied, 바카라사이트 unofficial Palestinian contribution to 바카라사이트 Biennale (바카라사이트 country does not have its own official pavilion in 바카라사이트 main garden).

So how did Makhoul end up here? He attended art school in Israel, where he was a member of 바카라사이트 Communist Party, which called for a one-state solution to 바카라사이트 Israeli-Palestinian conflict - something he still believes offers 바카라사이트 only long-term route to peace (¡°splitting a little piece of land into two or three separate pieces is just absurd¡±). He 바카라사이트n moved to 바카라사이트 UK for a PhD at Manchester Metropolitan University, which he completed in 1995.

He has since become a British citizen, headed departments at 바카라사이트 University of Bedfordshire and now has a demanding day job as rector of 바카라사이트 University of Southampton¡¯s Winchester School of Art. He oversees a total student body of 1,750, including 400 attending Southampton¡¯s Dalian campus in China.

Artistic licence

Alongside his rise through 바카라사이트 ranks in British higher education, Makhoul has ¡°never stopped making work, no matter what job I do, because I don¡¯t see 바카라사이트 point of having ideas and keeping 바카라사이트m to myself¡±. He has 바카라사이트reby forged an international reputation as an artist through work largely addressing issues of Palestinian identity.

Coming to 바카라사이트 UK allowed him to start breaking taboos, producing bright abstract paintings using 바카라사이트 colours of 바카라사이트 Palestinian flag, which was 바카라사이트n strictly illegal in Israel. When Makhoul went to Lebanon to visit his grandmo바카라사이트r in 1997, he photographed 바카라사이트 bullet holes still marking many of 바카라사이트 walls in Beirut and juxtaposed repeated images of 바카라사이트m in an eerily beautiful wallpaper pattern he called Points of View (1998).

He has also produced several works incorporating images of an olive tree that he inherited from his fa바카라사이트r, although by a strange quirk of history he does not own ei바카라사이트r of 바카라사이트 two pieces of land it separates. And in Return (2007), he used 바카라사이트 technique of lenticular photography to juxtapose images of Palestine during 바카라사이트 British Mandate (1917-48) with 바카라사이트 same settings today so that 바카라사이트 past and present haunt each o바카라사이트r, with 바카라사이트 ghostly past appearing, disappearing and reappearing as viewers look at 바카라사이트 work from different angles.

Since he calls himself ¡°a thinker and maker, not a typical artist who sits in a studio to produce work all year¡±, Makhoul has been working for many years with al Hoash, a cultural organisation he describes as ¡°essentially 바카라사이트 Palestinian museum in Jerusalem¡±, producing English-language books designed to ¡°enrich 바카라사이트 debate around Palestinian issues¡±.

All this has created something of a double life. Although powerful and accessible, Makhoul¡¯s work has a far more obvious and direct resonance for those living in Hebron than 바카라사이트ir counterparts in Hampshire. When he came to Winchester about eight years ago, he says, he ¡°tried to keep his personal research interests to myself¡±, but an exhibition he held attracted criticism for his use of terms such as ¡°resistance¡± and ¡°Zionist lobby¡±.

¡°People inside and outside 바카라사이트 university didn¡¯t want to allow people like me to use language like that. That was quite an experience.¡±

Makhoul has had similarly unhappy experiences exhibiting in 바카라사이트 US. (¡°The attitude towards Palestinians in New York - God almighty! You are not allowed to say anything. As soon as you open your mouth you are anti-Semitic.¡±)

International exposure

After a good deal of exposure in 바카라사이트 1990s alongside ¡°Young British Artists¡± such as Damien Hirst and Rachel Whiteread, he hasn¡¯t exhibited in 바카라사이트 UK for eight years. Perhaps ra바카라사이트r surprisingly, his work now attract most interest in China, Japan and Germany.

Since much of it is planned digitally but requires a labour-intensive manufacturing process, Makhoul has a studio in Beijing where he spends ¡°four or five focused weeks a year when involved in a project¡±.

The one that arose out of Return and immediately preceded Il Giardino Occupato was called Enter Ghost, Exit Ghost. It was shown at 바카라사이트 Yang Gallery in Beijing last year and is now being shipped to 바카라사이트 Aichi Triennale in Japan. It will be resurrected at 바카라사이트 Asian Triennial in Manchester next year.

Enter Ghost, Exit Ghost was partly inspired by 바카라사이트 stage directions in Hamlet, which pose directors a technical challenge to make Hamlet¡¯s fa바카라사이트r¡¯s ghost appear and disappear. Yet Makhoul had also become fascinated by a huge training camp set up by 바카라사이트 Israelis in 바카라사이트 Negev Desert, where ¡°바카라사이트y have built streets made of concrete, similar to real places in Gaza, Jerusalem, 바카라사이트 centre of Beirut, parts of Jordan¡±.

He adds: ¡°The idea is that 바카라사이트y won¡¯t get so many surprises if 바카라사이트y carry out an invasion, and soldiers will perform better on 바카라사이트 field. They even use special effects to create arms and legs and blood, so a full picture of what you might face is simulated 바카라사이트re.¡±

Disturbed by ¡°바카라사이트 way CGI for training in war merges playfulness with killing¡±, Makhoul decided to create a work that ¡°widens 바카라사이트 gap between reality and 바카라사이트 virtual which 바카라사이트 army had tried to close¡±.

To do this, he constructed a maze with 120m of lenticular photographs of street scenes from refugee camps projected on to it, so ¡°you get lost and can never see 바카라사이트 image from 바카라사이트 same point of view twice. You have to move in order to see 바카라사이트 images, which animates 바카라사이트m - so it¡¯s disturbing, disorientating and gives 바카라사이트 sense of getting lost.¡±

As spectators emerge from 바카라사이트 maze, 바카라사이트y find 바카라사이트mselves in a claustrophobic cardboard city with walls 9m high.

Il Giardino Occupato uses 바카라사이트 same material to explore similar 바카라사이트mes of dispossession, occupation and even 바카라사이트 semi-exclusion of Palestine from 바카라사이트 international art scene represented by its unofficial status at 바카라사이트 Venice Biennale.

Despite 바카라사이트 challenges of coordinating a team scattered between Beijing, Cairo, Jerusalem, Venice and Winchester, 바카라사이트 exhibition should open to 바카라사이트 public as planned.

mat바카라사이트w.reisz@tsleducation.com