Picasso in Palestine, Khaled Hourani / Rashid Masharawi, Palestine 2012, 52 min., Arabic / English, English subtitles, world premiere
Courtesy Khaled Hourani and Rashid Masharawi
On June 24 2011, a unique exhibition opened at the International Academy of Art Palestine (IAAP) in Ramallah. For the first time in history, an original painting by Pablo Picasso was shown in the West Bank, on the initiative of the artist Khaled Hourani. Buste de Femme (1943) one of the most iconic works from the collection of a contemporary art museum in Eindhoven, traveled across many visible and invisible borders to reach Ramallah. What happens to a painting by Picasso when it crosses cultural and political borders? Does it change its meaning on route? Do certain places have different potential to excite responses to a work of art? These are questions discussed by Khaled Hourani. The filmmaker Rashid Masharawi accompanied the journey of Buste de Femme from Eindhoven to Ramallah which involved two years of planning and negotiation. As a witness and participant, he narrates his view of the journey and the challenges that accompanied the project since its inception.
