Faten Nastas Mitwasi, konstnär, kurator och Chair of Visu - Scottish ...

Faten Nastas Mitwasi
”Memory for a better future”
When I think of the “other”, I start thinking of all my friends and relatives who live in Bethlehem, or other places in Palestine,
and of those who are abroad spread in many places in the world. Then, I start remembering all my friends and relatives
who passed away and are now living in the “other” world. I remember all those who died as casualties of the occupation
and the struggle for freedom for their nation and country, women and men, young and old, Palestinian or visitor.
I created these scrolls to highlight the need to remember the past and work hard for the future. We need to commemorate
our lost, beloved fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters in order to be able
to nd inner peace and establish a sustainable state.
The work takes the form of a “scroll”, a very traditional way of making documents in ancient
cultures, including the Arabic culture. Each scroll includes names of martyrs who died in dierent
periods through the past century and are grouped according to where the martyr lived.
The scrolls are not completely open; they indicate that there are many names before and after
the revealed section.
The scrolls are written in a special Arabic Calligraphy called “Ku”, which was developed in the
3rd or 4th century CE. This angular script was adopted for use in religious texts because of its
formality.
The red embroidery in the scroll is an emblem for the memorial; it can be imagined as 3 leaves
growing from one seed, or a burning ame, or other things. Being red and handmade, it is a symbol
of life.
Biography
Born and lives in Bethlehem, Palestine, Faten Nastas Mitwasi, is an installation artist who utilizes both
«hand-made» and «ready-made» objects. She received her Master in Fine Art (M.F.A.) from Bezalel Academy
for Fine Art & Design in Jerusalem. Past works have incorporated texts, dear diary pages, and delicate pieces
involving embroidery and crafted paper, as well as photographs, audio and video lms. Her art isn›t intended
to be politically straight forward; her concerns are with the social, emotional, and psychological aspects of life
that derive from the politically polarized environment in which we live in. Her main concepts are around “place”,
“time”, “human being”, “fragmentation” and “memory”
e-mail: fnastas@daralkalima.edu.ps