Kamal Boullata (1942 − August 6, 2019) Kamal Boullata—Palestinian master of abstract art and Arabic calligraphy—dies, aged 77
/ref> was a Palestinian artist and art historian. His works were primarily done in acrylic. His work was abstract in style, focusing on the ideas of division in Palestinian identity, separation from homeland. He expressed these ideas through geometric forms as well as through the integration of Arabic words and calligraphy.

Biography

Kamal Boullata was born in Jerusalem in 1942. Boullata recalls sitting for hours on end as a small boy in front of the

Dome of the Rock The Dome of the Rock ( ar, قبة الصخرة, Qubbat aṣ-Ṣakhra) is an Islamic shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, a site also known to Muslims as the ''al-Haram al-Sharif'' or the Al-Aqsa Compound. Its initial ...

, engrossed in sketching its innumerable and unfathomable geometric patterns and calligraphic engravings. Those patterns he saw as a child still echo endlessly throughout his adult work. In an interview he recalled "I keep reminding my self that Jerusalem is not behind me, it is constantly ahead of me." He studied at the Fine Arts Academy in Rome and at the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, Washington, D.C. In 1993 and 1994 Kamal was awarded

Fulbright Senior Scholarships The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

to conduct research on Islamic art in Morocco. Kamal, whose work has been exhibited throughout Europe, the United States and the Middle East, lived and worked in Menton in Southern France, and now in Berlin, Germany. Kamal Boullata was a fellow resident at The Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin ( Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin).

Style

Boullata works mainly in silk screen. His compositions are based on the angular Kufic script, embedded in geometric designs, which he uses as a representational form of art. His choice of subject matter is primarily around themes of Palestinian identity and the conditions of exile. Due to his use of Arabic calligraphy as a graphic form, he has been as part of the '' Hurufiyya Art Movement.''

Reviews

In a review of his work, Moroccan art critic

Abdelkebir Khatibi Abdelkebir Khatibi ( ar, عبد الكبير الخطيبي) (11 February 1938 – 16 March 2009) was a prolific Moroccan literary critic, novelist, philosopher, playwright, poet, and sociologist. Affected in his late twenties by the rebellious ...

wrote: : “Elaborated with remarkable continuity and patience, Boullata's work is that of a surveyor, an artist of proportion and measurement. Behind this passion for geometry lies the tradition of icon-painting, which forged the beginnings of his artistic training, a tradition that has maintained a venerable continuity between Byzantium and the Arabo-Islamic civilization of the Middle East.” Khalil Sakatini Cultural Center http://www.sakakini.org/visualarts/boullata.htm Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi noted: "Kamal was simply a giant of art & culture of our age. Not only was Kamal an accomplished artist, he was also the author of what is perhaps the most important book on the subject of Modern and contemporary art from Palestine, titled: ''Palestinian Art: from 1850 to the Present''." Steve Sabella noted just after Boullata's death: "I had dinner with Kamal three weeks ago just before I left for Jerusalem, the city of our birth. He looked young, energised, inspired, speaking about many projects. From the moment we met in 2002, any conversation with Kamal ignited my imagination. Only beauty emerges when one delves into his art and listens to his carefully chosen words -words that I felt always came out from the heart. Kamal inspired thousands in his life, and I do feel his journey has just begun. Kamal's departure is not a loss, but a reward to all humanity."

Public collections

Public collections holding his art * Arab American National Museum, Dearborn, Michigan * British Museum, London * Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris *

Jordan National Gallery The Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts is a major contemporary art museum located in Amman, Jordan. The Official inauguration of the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts (JNGFA) was held under the patronage of the late King Hussein and Queen Noor ...

The Khalid Shoman Foundation ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...

* Sharjah Art Museum *

Sarjah and the Bibliotheque Louis Notari Shurja ( fa, شورجا, also Romanized as Shūrjā; also known as Sarjāh, Shoorcheh, and Shūrjeh) is a village in Shivanat Rural District, Afshar District, Khodabandeh County, Zanjan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Rep ...

, Monaco

Books

* ''Between Exits: Paintings by

Hani Zurob Hani Zurob (Arabic: هاني زعرب; born 1976), is a Palestinian painter, based in Paris, France. His work addresses concepts of exile, waiting, movement and displacement, and aims to present the collective Palestinian experience through reflec ...

'' Black Dog Publishing London 2012 (in English) * ''Palestinian Art: From 1850 to the Present'', Saqi Press, 2009, London (in English) * ''Belonging and Globalisation: Critical Essays in Contemporary Art and Culture'', Saqi Press 2008, London. (in English) * ''Recovery of Place: A Study of Contemporary Palestinian Art'' (in Arabic)

References