Abdel Tamam

Artist of Kafr Qasem

I first met artist Abdel Tamam in Kafr Qasem on the day of the memorial march honoring the victims of the 1956 massacre. It was at the open-air exhibition of his work at the Town Hall. As he stood in front of his paintings explaining them to his fellow townspeople he exuded the pleasure of standing in the sun and breathing fresh air. Later while I interviewed him I could see that he is a calm and quiet man. His eyes smile but the creases at their edge remind me of the pain he has seen and suffered at the hands of the Israelis. Still yet there is something that sparkles in his demeanor.
I asked Abdel Tamam where and when he was born and how he started painting. "I was born in Kafr Qasem in 1944. I began drawing as a child using chalk and pencil. I started in the late sixties. Maybe it was 67 or 68 because in 68, 69,and 70 I was in prison."
Why were you in prison? "I was accused (by the Israelis) of being a member of one of the Palestinian resistance organization. I was placed in administrative detention which meant that I had no recourse and could have remained in prison forever. You never know if and when you would get out. They accused and imprisoned all who were activist."
When did you begin drawing about the Kafr Qasem massacre executed by the Israelis? "I began drawing about the Kafr Qasem massacre of 1956 immediately after it happened. We did posters and wrote on the walls. I was politicized by the massacre. The teachers did not encourage me. Teachers always fear losing their jobs and discourage us. They are dogs in the political sense, not in all ways of course."
Tell us about your first show? "When I was in the 8th grade, there was an exhibition which I did not see. I did a drawing which took first prize. They told me about it. I had done a drawing which was an assignment given by the teachers. It was a drawing about transportation. I was 13 years old then." Of course there was no public transportation in Kafr Qasem at that time nor was there electricity or running water. Those were niceties that the Israelis did not provide the Arab villages even though they taxed them heavily. "At age 14 I began drawing about the massacre and the Israeli police used to come and confiscate all my drawings. They entered my home three to four times and took my drawings."
What materials did you use then? "I used pencil and water colors. I used to go without tasreeh (official written permission from the Israeli authorities for movement that all Palestinians had to have) to Petah Tikva [an Israeli town] to buy a box of water colors and it lasted me for a year."
"In prison I did a lot of drawings and the Israeli jailers would not let me send them out without their permission and they did not give such a permission. They came and took all the drawings which I made. They promised to give them back to me but at the end, when they let me out, they refused to give them back to me. My drawings were not returned. They still have them. I did not draw about the massacre or about Palestinian politics because they would have made life impossible for me. So I drew about Viet Nam."
I asked Abdel Tamam if he would not go back and demand the drawings from the Israeli prison. He said: "I cannot go back to that place. I had a lot of pain there and it is impossible for me to go back to it voluntarily." I then asked him if he had children and if he would not request them at a time in the future to go demand his drawings back from the Israeli government. He responded saying: "Those are past times and they are gone and it is best to forget them."

"Harvest Them" was the call used by the Israeli executioner when he gave the order to his men to open fire at unarmed workers returning home from work, anticipating a peaceful night of rest." It is interesting that Abdel Tamam does not give the Israeli executioners the dignity of having heads on their shoulders in this drawing.
I asked Abdel Tamam if he ever studied art. He said: "I did a course in 1972. I could not take the certificate because the Israeli mukhabarat (secret service) threatened me." I asked him how they knew that he was doing the course and he responded that they watch us all the time and know all that we are doing. He continued: "The course was in Tel Aviv in a place called Studio Cesar. They taught me graphic design. I went for seven months. I only gained from them my own self confidence. They assigned us design projects and I was successful in these projects." Then Abdel Tamam proceeded to describe the assignments in surprising detail, revealing a crisp memory for events and details and a power of accurate description.
When was your first exhibition? "My first exhibition was a group show in Beit-Lahem (Bethlehem) in 1977. The Paintings were about our Palestinian heritage. I had a great response from people in Beit-Lahem. I had a painting of a church and a mosque, both broken but resting on each other, and together they formed (they appeared like) a Palestinian woman whose face showed troubles. I exhibited in Nasreh (NaZareth), in Shafa Amer, in Jaybe, and in Petah Tikva and in Tel Aviv. In Tel-Aviv they considerred what I did important work, the Jews, that is. They consider me the other side and that is interesting to them; they like to see the other side."
Have you ever exhibited outside Palestine? "I was asked to exhibit in the Khaleej (The Gulf) in Qatar. I did not know how to handle the fact that Qatar has no official connection to Israel. I have no organization to help me or represent me. I was worried about the official Israeli reaction and its possible negative and destructive consequences on my life."
For how much do you sell your work? "I sell my work only to the person I respect and if so it happens, then there is no disagreement."
Did you ever teach and would you teach? "Many students request to study with me and I can't do it due to lack of materials and space."
Did you know of any other artists who were painting in Palestine48 under the Israeli Government? "There was a communist artist who drew for Al-Itihad, the communist newspaper. He drew abstract caricatures. Other than him I do not know any others. The Communism Party protected him."
Can I put your pictures on the Internet on my web pages? "You can use them in any way but not for profit. I make my paintings for my people and want them used for that purpose."

Web posting: Samia A. Halaby, September 2006.

Abdel Rahman al Mozayen, “Children of the Intifada” (1988). (Collection of Souha Xochitl Shayota, New York)

Title unknown

"I take you by your hands"

"I am Calling You"

Title unknown

"Harvest Them"

"Kafr Qasem"

Title unknown

abdel tamam. Kafr Qasem of Palestine

Portrait of Abdel Tamam
October 29, 1999

Adnan Yahya

Adnan Yahya, a Palestinian artist born in 1960 to a family who like many Palestinians in Amman, Jordan, can trace back his ancestry back to Yafa ( Jaffa ).
Jordan, being a fairly young country which was established in the early twentieth century by the British and was used as a pre...ssure valve to ease the pressure in the shift of Palestinian refugees being forced out of their homeland and being relocated to make room for the influx of Zionist terrorism against the indigenous population of Palestine.
My first knowledge of Yahya as an artist was when I acquired the first of many of his paintings from the Made in Palestine traveling exhibition in 2004. Later on my visit to Amman, Jordan in 2007, I was able to make his acquaintance by visiting his home in the Um-Al-Thawarah district of Amman. After being introduced to all members of his very pleasant family. I was pleased to learn that two of his children are named after two historical Shi'ite religious figures, "Hamza and Jaafar" the other two named Naji, after the character artist, Naji Al-Ali and Omar, after a Sunni historical character. When asked regarding the names of his children he answered, " I have no division beliefs between Sunni and Shiites. The concept of division serves only the policy of colonization and that is what the "West" is trying to implant in the minds and hearts of the people around the Arab World which is what we see happening at this moment in Iraq, "the Sunni Triangle"
One cannot ignore, from close-up study of his work, to see that Adnan Yahya is an historical archivist who documents the history of his people through his paintings, sculptures and ceramics. He is most undoubtedly a new school of aesthetics who stands on his own, in his artistic ability and humanitarian thought.
Yahya treats his composition with a Post-Surrealist approach in which his subjects are magnified sculptures of deteriorated images of generals who represent the tyranny of the "Super Powers" frozen in the past time zone. It is only logical to visualize power as "statuary" because every powerful leader strives to build a large and larger monument which immortalizes their earthly existence on the expense of their own people or other people whom they have colonized. His use of insects, such as ants and cockroaches as symbols of soldiers who are transporting death, destruction and disaster from one place to another with disregard to life and humanity.
Farhat Art Museum highly encourages people with high respect to mankind to view in close-up his art exhibit at the Foresight Gallery in Amman, Jordan beginning October 13Th and running through the month of October.
Naim Farhat