Jude Abu Zaineh: In the Presence of Absence | في حضرة الغياب
Solo exhibition at Art Windsor-Essex, Canada
June 10, 2022 - September 11, 2022
Guest curated by Noor Alé
Unfolding as a tender and poignant homage, In the presence of absence | في حضرة الغياب is an exhibition that centres Palestinian-Canadian artist Jude Abu Zaineh’s relationship with Palestine, a homeland that she has only encountered through oral histories, archival images, literature, and cultural traditions. The exhibition’s title is borrowed from the late Palestinian author Mahmoud Darwish’s poetry book that weaves his autobiography with the shared experiences of exile endured by Palestinians. Layering both personal and collective accounts of migration and adaptation, Abu Zaineh has created neon, collage, and print works that draw photographs from library archives and family albums. For the artist, these works reimagine the home as a dynamic site that is constantly evolving through the experiences of migration, familial anecdotes, and memories. Across all the works, images of plants emerge as a metaphor for vitality, symbolizing the ability of displaced individuals to flourish under challenging conditions. The exhibition is conceived as a home that shares narratives of belonging, selfhood, and culture that are transformed when one is at the crossroads of being a diasporic individual.
This exhibition forms part of Below the 6, a series of exhibitions that focuses on artists based in Southwestern Ontario whose practices are socially and politically minded. Below the 6 is guest curated by Noor Alé and is generously supported by TD Bank Group.
Installation shots by Michael Valiquette and Frank Piccolo.