Jerusalem calligraphy exhibit showcases Jewish-Arab ties
The exhibit is titled Maktoub, and hopes to encourage dialogue between those in Abraham Accord countries
A Hebrew-Arabic calligraphy exhibit at the Jerusalem Biennale - a city-wide cultural festival - highlights the newfound ties between Israel and Arab countries.
Titled "Maktoub," an Arabic word meaning "it is written," this exhibition was curated by Linore Mizrahi-Cohen and Chama Mechtaly to encourage dialogue between those in Abraham Accord countries.
Mizrahi-Cohen is an American-Israeli artist with Syrian-Jewish ancestry, and Mechtaly is a Moroccan artist based out of Dubai. Mechtaly found out later in life her grandfather was Jewish, which heavily influenced her life and her art.
The two women both curated the exhibit, and contributed to it as artists themselves.
"Both of our cultures venerate the written word," Mizrahi-Cohen said to i24NEWS. "So, I wanted to give exposure to artists who are not only very talented and technically very capable but who are also doing interesting, creative, dynamic new things with both scripts."
Mechtaly noted that artists from countries that did not normalize peace with Israel via the Abraham Accords reached out in hopes of being part of the exhibit, and expressed the limitations that came with it.
The two women also collaborated on work outside the exhibit, creating pieces highlighting their movement from country to country.
"The main idea is to take the shared background element of our stories... and this phenomenon we both noticed in our lives where we meet new people we have a chance to retell or re-imagine our stories.”