Contemporary Art Platform (CAP) is pleased to announce the opening night of Zeft exhibition and is proud to present the first Kuwait solo exhibition of Paris based painter Hani Zurob taking place on Wednesday the 22nd of March 2017 at 7pm. The exhibition continues until the 22nd of April 2017.
Yasmina Reggad writes, “Hani Zurob has been a firsthand witness to recent critical events that have shaped his subjectivity. He eschews widely circulated media imagery in favour of using the medium of tar that is per se highly charged with contemporary narratives on atrocity that go beyond the personal experience of the artist in Palestine. Besides serving to interrogate the medium of painting, the tar could be the “piece of evidence” that provides “a reservoir of the real”(Peter Geimer, op., cit., p. 31) for the viewers to activate their personal archive of imagery.“
Hani Zurob is a Palestinian artist, born in 1976 in Rafah camp (Gaza). In 1994 he moved to Nablus where he graduated in 1999 with a B.A. of Fine Arts at the University Al-Najah. He then settled in Ramallah until 2006, where he received a grant that allowed him to reside in Paris at the Cité Internationale des Arts. Hani was unable to return to his homeland. Today he lives in France, creating works that explore the state of exile, waiting, movement and displacement. His work presents Palestine through a personal perspective and conceptual context that transcends borders and geography—concepts that remain close to the painter’s heart.
“Hani’s practice provides an important voice in contemporary Palestinian culture, as well as a significant contribution to the creation of an Arab aesthetic. Ultimately though, while Zurob’s art gives powerful expression to the Palestinian collective experience, it can also be seen in the context of more universal themes of personal identity and embraces humanity beyond the Palestinian context”.
Black Dog Publishing, London 2012.
In Palestine, Hani had staged many solo exhibitions and he was a finalist in the A. M. Qattan Foundation Young Artist Award 2002, Ramallah. In 2009 Zurob was granted the Renoir price (Bourse et Prix Renoir). His work is found in private and public collections including in the Arab American National Museum (AANM), Dearborn, Michigan; WAH center (Williamsburg Art & Historical center), New York; Association Renoir, France; Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris; Mairie de Paris, Hôtél de Ville, Paris; Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah; Contemporary Art Platform (CAP), Kuwait; A. M. Qattan Foundation, London-Ramallah; Birzeit University Museum, Birzeit, Palestine; Ramzi Dalloul Collection, Lebanon, and George Michael Al Ama Collection, Palestine.
A monograph tracing the development of his work, “Between Exits: Paintings By Hani Zurob” by Kamal Boullata was published by Black Dog Publishing, London, November 2012.
Contemporary Art Platform (CAP) is a non-profit private organization dedicated to developing and supporting the arts in Kuwait and throughout the region. CAP is one of the largest exhibition spaces in the region and since its founding in 2011 by art collector Amer Huneidi. The gallery space has presented exhibitions of established and international artists, as well as emerging and local artists through collective, thematic shows mainly curated by Arab and international curators.
CAP’s mission is equally committed to its extensive education program which offers a variety of opportunities to the community. Workshops are held regularly in the Studio Space, where youth and children are invited to learn from local and visiting artists. Artist talks and panel discussions are presented in conjunction with exhibitions, exhibition tours are offered to school groups and film screenings are shown twice a month. CAP’s library holds over two thousand titles and is the largest public art book library in Kuwait. These resources have positively impacted local contemporary art appreciation and understanding. As the only institution of its kind, CAP has played a principal role in establishing Kuwait as a contributor to the global art world and fostering the next generation of art lovers in the region.
Contemporary Art Platform Kuwait
Industrial Shuwaikh, Block 2, Street 28
Life Center (same building as Eureka), Mezzanine
T: +965 2492 5636
For more information please contact:
Mohammed Alridi
Marketing Manager
+965 9938 9045
Image: Zeft #25 (detail), Tar & pigments on canvas, 30x24cm, 2016
