Ramallah, Palestine, 9 June 2014: In spite of continued political uncertainty and economic insecurity in the occupied Palestinian territory, the fledgling contemporary art market is growing rapidly. Purchasing art is becoming fashionable and new commercial art galleries are being launched too.
Ziad Anani, founder of the newly opened Zawyeh Gallery in Ramallah which launched a new group exhibition this week, says: “This is the fourth exhibition to be held at Zawyeh Gallery since we launched in December 2013 and it is really a direct response to the growing interest for high quality modern art from Palestine.”
“In the very short period since we have been open, we have seen an increasing demand for art work from both Palestinians and expatriates here in Palestine as well as international clients. And demand continues to grow,” added Anani.
Zawyeh Gallery’s latest exhibition In Memory (7 – 14 June 2014, Al Bireh, Ramallah) is a group exhibition featuring the work of notable Palestinian artists including Suleiman Mansour and Nabil Anani. It also pays homage to the late Isam Bader, considered by many as the finest Palestinian ceramicist of the latter half of the twentieth century.
Historically, Palestinian artists marketed their own work direct with individuals and galleries outside Palestine, often with varying success. “Although some Palestinian artists have had the opportunity to showcase their work locally and internationally, a number of artists have complained that a lot of their art work has never been returned from international shows and in some instances, some were never paid. We hope that this won’t happen again.” he added.
“I hope one day to host some notable international artists here in Ramallah. For the moment, we just want to give Palestinian artists the opportunity to promote and sell their work in a trusted and professional manner,” he states.
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About Zawyeh Gallery
Zawyeh is an independent visual arts gallery in Ramallah, Palestine. It was founded by Ziad Anani and partners in December 2013. In addition to presenting local artists to an international audience, the gallery’s mission is to promote established and emerging artists from Palestine through various thematic exhibitions. Zawyeh exhibits artworks in a large variety of media including painting, sculpture, photography, and video. The gallery hosts monthly shows and plans to participate in several international art fairs.
In Memory is a group exhibition featuring paintings by Abed Abedi, Fayez Sersawi, Nabil Anani, Suleiman Mansour, Tayseer Barakat, Kareem Dabbah and Shafiq Radwan. The exhibition also includes rare works by the late ceramicist and painter, Isam Bader. The exhibition runs from 7 – 14 June from 12.00 – 7.00pm daily.
