Art as Survival: How Palestinian Artists Are Shaping Creative Resistance in Palestine

Nabil Anani’s Exit into the Light, leather and mixed media on wood [Courtesy of Nabil Anani] Source: Al Jazeera – www.aljazeera.com – “How Palestinian artists carry the New Visions spirit of resilience,” published 16 November 2025.

Palestinian artists today are carrying forward and expanding the legacy of the New Visions movement, one of the most influential currents in modern Palestinian art. Founded in 1987 during the First Intifada by Nabil Anani, Sliman Mansour, Vera Tamari, and Tayseer Barakat, the movement rejected art materials supplied by Israel and turned instead to the land itself — sheepskin, clay, leather, wood, and natural pigments. This shift laid the foundation for a distinctly Palestinian visual language. Tamari’s ceramic olive trees, Barakat’s charred wooden forms, and Mansour’s cracked clay surfaces echo the fragmented landscape of Palestine.

The movement’s vision shaped not only artistic production but also cultural institutions. The establishment of the International Academy of Art Palestine in 2006 — later integrated into Birzeit University — provided a long-term educational base for developing Palestinian art.

A New Generation of Palestinian Artists Under Even Harsher Conditions

Today, a new generation is redefining creative resistance amid increasingly challenging circumstances.In the West Bank, designer–artisan Lara Salous collaborates with shepherds and weavers through her social initiative Woolwoman, producing contemporary wool furniture. Despite settler violence, closed roads, and restricted access to rural areas, her work highlights the resilience and innovation at the heart of contemporary Palestinian design.

In Gaza, scarcity and blockade push young artists to adapt.At just 18 years old, Hussein al-Jerjawi paints on UNRWA flour sacks when canvas is unavailable. Meanwhile, Hazem Harb, originally from Gaza and now working in Dubai, continues to develop the experimental spirit of the New Visions movement within an international art context.

Palestinian Art as a Persistent Form of Cultural Resistance

Across Gaza, the West Bank, and the diaspora, Palestinian art remains a quiet yet steadfast act of cultural resistance. With minimal resources and constant obstacles, artists transform everyday materials into carriers of memory, resilience, and cultural continuity. In doing so, the foundational aesthetic of the New Visions movement — creativity grounded in local materials and lived experience — continues to evolve with each new generation.

Source: Al Jazeera — “How Palestinian artists are carrying the resistance spirit of New Visions,” published November 16, 2025.