EnglishOfficial Website & Prints Shop

PalRead – Country of Words Podcast EP6: Abed Abdi

In this episode of PalRead – Country of Words Podcast, we speak with artist Abed Abdi about his book illustrations and periodical cover designs since the 1960s in Haifa. Abdi collaborated with writers such as Emil Habibi, Samih al-Qasim, and Salman Natour, as well as with periodicals such as al-Ittihad and al-Jadid.

Abed Abdi was born in Haifa in 1942 and was displaced in 1948 with his family, except his father, to Lebanon and then Syria. His family was reunited with his father in Haifa in 1951. Abdi was the recipient of an art scholarship, which enabled him to move to Dresden in 1964, where he specialized in graphic art, murals and memorial art, studying under artists such as Lea Grunding. Abdi returned to Haifa in 1972, where he began to work for al-Ittihad and al-Jadid until 1982. Considered one of the leading artists in the Palestinian literary context, Abdi worked with the likes of Emil Habibi, Samih al-Qasim, Salman Natour, Muhammad Ali Taha, Deeb Abdi, and many others. He received the Hermann Struck Prize awarded by the city of Haifa in 1973 and 1999, as well as the Palestine Prize in 2019. Alongside his artistic work, Abdi has led educational workshops and was head of al-Maydan theater in Haifa between 2015 and 2019.

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Produced by the PalREAD – Country of Words Podcast project, funded by the European Research Council (ERC)
Free University of Berlin, Department of History and Cultural Studies

Interviewer and co-editor: Rand Khdeir

Writer, Producer and Editor: Ibrahim Abdou

Host & Concept Design: Refqa Abu-Remaileh

Sound Editing & Design: Ziad Fayed

VO Recording: Gianpiero Tari

Music: “The Astounding Eyes of Rita” by Anouar Brahem (ECM Records, 2009)

Cover Art: Alexandra Sophia Handal

Production, logistics and technical support: Kerning Cultures

Related Links

Leave a Reply

Recent Posts

Upcoming: Revolutionary Romances? Global art histories in the GDR
September 12, 2023By
Revolutionary Romances — PROLOGUE
September 12, 2023By
Restoration of Abed Abdi’s Mural in Haifa
August 10, 2023By
The Chokako Collection: A Journey of Colors
August 6, 2023By
Auction / Middle East Paris / Beirut – Online
July 20, 2023By
Freie Universitaet Berlin Launches Podcast “Country of Words”
July 5, 2023By
Abed Abdi sitting in his studio
Memories of Nakba inspire Palestinian artist’s work
June 21, 2023By
Material Imagination: Israeli Art from the Collection of Tel Aviv Museum
February 23, 2023By
Restoration of Abed Abdi’s mural at Dresden Academy of Fine Arts
February 12, 2023By
Tel-Aviv Museum of Art Adds 2 Abed Abdi Artworks To Its Collection
December 16, 2022By

Recent Works

GDPR