Ahlam Shibli

This catalogue marked the most comprehensive exhibition to date of work by Palestinian artist Ahlam Shibli. In her photographs, Shibli deals with the everyday life of the Palestinian population living in Israel and with the consequences that arise from living together in a state of permanent conflict. Her work aspires to a straightforward communication of daily life, paradoxically rarely seen.

One series here, Unrecognized, focuses on 'Arab al Na'im', a village in the Galilee region that does not exist on official maps. Photographs of the landscape, the villages, the villagers, their belongings and homes are remarkable for their spontaneity, openness and colour. The work epitomises the artist's fundamental proposition and is remarkable for its openness and lack of bitterness. The artist explains 'I am trying to show the price a minority is forced to pay to the majority to be accepted, even if it costs a change in identity, perhaps to survive, or maybe more than this.'

This publication features a foreword by Ikon Director Jonathan Watkins, a text by writer John Berger, full colour images, an essay by Kamal Boullata and a biography.