Exhibitions
Abed Abdi has exhibited in Qatar, Jordan, Germany, France, Hungary, Israel, Belgium and Bulgaria. He has participated in over 50 group exhibitions, among them the joint Palestinian-Israeli exhibition It’s possible which toured the USA and Germany between 1988 and 1990. In 1995 he participated in the second exhibition for Palestinians and Israelis in Germany. His work appeared in the Solidarity with the Palestinian People exhibit in Tokyo, Havanah, Berlin, Moscow, Brussels, Belgrade and Athens. He also organized and participated in exhibitions with Israeli and Palestinian artists in Tel-Aviv, Haifa and West Jerusalem in the period between 1980 and 1987 defending the freedom of expression and creativity.
Speaking about his art and the 1973 War, Abdi said:
“Out of my world view and my loathing of war, and also out of my profound concern for the future of relations between the two peoples, Arab and Jewish, I have shown my two works here in the exhibition entitled Echoes of the Times… When the cannons thundered on the Golan Heights and the banks of the Suez, and when the future of the region was at risk, I recalled the words of Pablo Picasso, and in my work I said “no to war” in accordance with my artistic beliefs; art must be committed and play a role…. In the same way that an artist lives the events of the past, present and future, he also lives the conflict between Man and the forces of evil and destruction. And when society and humankind are in crisis, the artist is required to express himself harmoniously by means of the artistic vehicle at his disposal […] and so […] the role of the artist in his work, thoughts and world view is to reinforce the perpetual connection between himself and the society in which he lives. I was brought up according to this approach and thus I understand the connection between my artistic work and the role defined by Kokoschka, who sought to remove the mask for all those who want to see reality as it is. The role of fine art is to show them the truth”.[1]
Notes:
- A. Niv, Zu Haderekh, 13.2.1974 cited in Tal Ben Zvi, Abed Abdi: Wa Ma Nasina (We Have Not Forgotten) in: Abed Abdi: 50 Years of Creativity, published in 2010, at p. 216.
