07 Oct 2014

Opening of 'YAYA 2014: Suspended Accounts' Exhibition Ramallah-Palestine

The A.M. Qattan Foundation is pleased to announce the opening of the Young Artist of the Year (YAYA) 2014 exhibition: Suspended Accounts, as part of the second edition of Qalandiya International (QI): Archives: Lived and Shared. The exhibition showcases the works of the nine shortlisted artists who reached the final stage of the YAYA.

YAYA 2014 explores, both theoretically and practically, the use of archives and the concept and use of self-historisation.

Curated by Viviana Checchia this year, YAYA 2014 has been envisioned by the curator as a long term project. Since the selection of the finalists by an independent jury in March, the shortlisted artists Aya Abu Ghazaleh, Bashar Khalaf, Farah Saleh, Hamody Gannam, Hanadi Abu Jamal, Iman Al Sayed, Majdal Nateel, Noor Abed and Noor Abuarafeh have been engaged in a number of online meetings where they learned more about the conceptual framework of the project and exchanged and shared ideas with international lecturers: artists and cultural practitioners. The online workshops were held by the artists Uriel Orlow, Rania Bellou, Hrair Sarkisian, Amina Menia and curators Zdenka Badovinac and Fereshte Moosavi.

The art works of the nine finalists will be exhibited in a public exhibition organised within QI in October. The jury of distinguished Palestinian and internationally renowned artists, curators, commentators and professionals in the fields of culture and the visual arts will meet the artists, view the exhibition and select first, second and third prize winners.

The exhibition represents one stage of a long and complex process that will continue beyond the opening. The YAYA exhibition will be followed by a panel entitled 'On self-historization, (in) visible narratives, imagination and other (hi)stories' by Uriel Orlow, Michael Rakowitz and Carolina Rito, a workhop by Lia Perjovschi, and a trip to Nablus Municipality Library for Beatrice Catanzaro's project The Prisoner's Section. A blog will also be created after the end of the exhibition to document the award, and become an online platform for artists to exchange ideas and connect.


The Foundation will continue in its engagement with the YAYA finalists by generating opportunities for international residencies and offering support for exhibiting their work locally and internationally.

The Young Artist of the Year Award is named after the late Palestinian artist, Hassan Hourani, who passed away in a tragic accident in August 2003. The award was first organised in 2000 and has been repeated on a biennial basis as part of the A.M. Qattan Foundation's Culture and Arts Programme. It is open to Palestinian artists, regardless of their place of residence, between the ages of 22 and 30 who work in any area of the visual arts.


For more information about Qalandiya International, please visit:
www.qalandiyainternational.org