Ismail Shammout- The Exodus and the Odyssey

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ismail Shammout Self Portrait 1985

Ismail Shammout (1931- 2006 )was a Palestinian artist and art historian. Born in Lydda, he and his family were expelled from the city on July 12, 1948 by Israeli forces. His family settled in a refugee camp in Gaza. Shammout enrolled in the College of Fine Arts Cairo in 1950, returning to Gaza in 1953. That year Shammout held, with his brother Jamil, the first exhibition by a contemporary Palestinian artist in Palestine.

Ismail Shammout's 1953 'Where to?"

The exhibition included Where to? (1953), a sobering oil-on-canvas depiction of a family in exodus. A year later, Shammout was part of the Palestine Exhibition of 1954 in Cairo, inaugurated by president Gamal Abdel Nasser. Shammout incorporated Palestinian traditions in his realist painting, which commented on the plight of Palestinians since 1948. In 1954, he enrolled at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome. 

Shammout moved to Beirut in 1956, where he married fellow artist Tamam al-Alkal. Shammout became the Director of Arts and National Culture for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1965. In 1983, following the Israeli attack against the PLO in Lebanon, Shammout moved from Beirut to Kuwait, then Germany, and finally to Jordan.

The Land and Love by Ismail Shammout

The Palestinian obi was made by a group of refugees- Kimono Project Olympics 2020/2021

Palestine kimono and obi on a model. Kimono Project

 "The majority of the pieces were made by Japanese designers using traditional methods, except for two. The Palestinian obi was made by a group of refugees, and the Indonesian kimono was decorated with batik, the country’s traditional method of wax-resistant dyeing.

“It was one of the interesting parts of our project," Shimizu says of Palestine’s obi, which was designed by Maki Yamamoto. "There are various techniques, locality or design patterns of dyeing and weaving in Japan. [Lead designer] Takakura thought deeply to fit the image of the country with the creator's art style when he assigned who was in charge.

“Regarding the Palestinian kimono, we knew Maki Yamamoto had a long experience of working with Palestinian embroiderers to make obis, so we assigned her as a designer.”

In a Facebook post, Yamamoto explained that the Palestinian obi took two years to make and she visited the country six times during the process, at her own expense. She collaborated with the Society of Inash al Usra, a higher education foundation that offers scholarships to university students in Palestine.

Yamamoto says she participated in the project because, although it would be a “challenge”, it would be a “great opportunity to showcase Palestinian embroidery to people all over the world”.

 https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/2021/08/03/kimono-project-213-kimonos-created-to-represent-countries-competing-in-tokyo-olympics/

Kimono Project: 213 kimonos created to represent countries competing in Tokyo Olympics

Each custom-made garment represents ‘harmony and unity’ and took six years to complete, costing almost $20,000 per piece

more from different countries can be found here https://soranews24.com/2021/07/30/country-kimono-project-completes-set-of-over-200-designs-for-every-nation-at-tokyo-olympics%e3%80%90pics%e3%80%91/

Country kimono! Project completes set of over 200 designs for every nation at Tokyo Olympics

 The U.S.A. kimono is particularly diverse, with the country’s flag fashioned out of flowers (including cherry blossoms subbing for stars), a majestic bald eagle, and a from-space view of the southern and eastern coastline. 

Heading over to Great Britain, we see such iconic sites as Elizabeth Tower and the Tower of London