Our Concept

Our Concept

At the turn of the 20th century, the Hejaz, a narrow-gauge railway built south from Damascus to transport pilgrims to Mecca during the Hajj, represented a tangible, if utopic, dream of a united region during Ottoman rule. Part divine aspiration, part vehicle for political gain, the train was designed to extend existing railways from Istanbul through present-day Turkey to Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Saudi Arabia and, finally, to the holiest cities of Islam. A decade later, the British, eager to replace the Ottoman Empire with its own, initiated what would become decades of European battles in the region. The dream was finally obliterated: Lawrence of Arabia and a Bedouin army repeatedly blew the railway apart during WWI. It never recovered but the tracks still remain.

We Have Woven the Motherlands with Nets of Iron investigates what is left of the withered dream to transcend physical and metaphysical borders after the rise and fall of empires. Having endured wars and conquests, the trains persist, limping along, rented out to nostalgic tourists and enthusiasts. Trains, like Arab unity itself, have a romantic geography: nearly obsolete, valued for historical symbolism, begging to be updated or made once again relevant. In contrast, various countries in the region are initiating modern railway systems that can reconnect citizens to the landscape.

In examining dichotomies between history and current nationalisms, the exhibition We Have Woven the Motherlands with Nets of Iron will make use of contributions from artists and historians from each of the five countries of the Hejaz (from Jordan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Syria) to produce performances on movable platforms, archival projects using remnants of the rail lines and other installations, all of which will take place on the rails in Jordan.

The exhibition is part of Apexart’s Franchise project for 2011, and will run from the 4th of May until the 4thth of June 2011. The exhibition is curated by Eric Gottesman and Toleen Touq.

Photo of the train wreck in the Nefud Desert of Saudi Arabia by Jerry Miller, 70images.com

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Nationalism, Pan-Islamism and Pan-Arabism



From an article today titled "Bahrain square becomes new center for Arab anger":
Protesters quickly renamed it "Nation's Square" and erected banners such as "Peaceful" that were prominent in Cairo's Tahrir Square. Many waved Bahraini flags and chanted: "No Sunnis, no Shiites. We are all Bahrainis."

This last sentence (emphasis mine) is complicated in terms of the relationship between nationalism, pan-Islamism and pan-Arabism. On one hand, nationalism and pan-Arabism conflict: under a pan-Arab ethic, Arab identity crosses all national borders. But in a previous time, pan-Arabism meant pan-Arab nationalism, a movement that culminated for a short time in the UAR. Now, though, especially in the past few weeks, pan-Arabism has meant a pan-Arab ideology, grounded very much within the national boundaries of each Arab state (notice how many flags are being shown; how Bahrainis chant "We are all Bahrainis" and Egyptians "We are all Egyptians"). This idea of a new pan-Arabism, defined by ideology, was drawn out in a brilliant article by Lamis Andoni on al-Jazeera English.

The protestors in Bahrain, chanting "No Sunnis, No Shia," are saying religious divisions also don't matter as much as national identity, even in a protest inspired largely by other protests that happened outside of their country by fellow Arabs. Ironically, it seems patriotism and national identity are gaining strength as a result of pan-Arab and pan-Islamic sentiments. And yet, in the case of many of these national identities, the colonial powers that drew the borders of these same nations inspired the earlier form of pan-Arabism that rejected nationalism in favor of pan-Arab nationalism.
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