Municipalities and Councils - Australians for Palestine

Artist of the Month
Khaled Jarrar
Khaled Jarrar has been swiftly catapulted
into the public eye for his audacious
State of Palestine stamp, an aesthetically
pleasing design of the Palestinian
Sunbird that is now gracing the passports
of numerous supporters.
While the strength of reaction has
surprised the artist, Jarrar was amazed
to discover that the Israeli Ministry of
Foreign Affairs is now using his stamp
in its campaign literature to attack the
foreseen declaration of statehood at the
UN General Assembly this September.
“I’m not thinking about them,” he told
us, denying that the project is overtly
political. “This is about refusing to deny
ourselves. We are human and need to
express ourselves.”
Jarrar was also thinking about his
Western friends, who fret over their visas
at the mercy of Israeli border officials. To
date, 28 internationals have taken him
up on his offer, bearing his Palestinian
stamp when they pass through Ben
Gurion Airport.
The reactions have varied. “My South
African friend showed the stamp to
security and they said ‘I didn’t know this
existed,’ and let him pass. When he got
to Cape Town they said it was beautiful,”
Jarrar recalls.
Others haven’t been so lucky. A
66
Danish man was subjected to hours of
interrogation by various officials, while
an American was banned from Israel
when he displayed the stamp at the
Allenby Bridge.
“I felt guilty and was thinking to stop,”
says Jarrar. The strength of international
goodwill stopped him. He has received
over 1,500 messages of support from
around the world and enjoyed favourable
media coverage from Sweden to China.
Now, rather than end the project, he has
extended it to include an “ambassador
programme,” with willing participants
abroad promoting solidarity in their home
nations. He will also make a presentation
next year at Checkpoint Charlie, the
infamous border between West and East
Berlin, for the Biennale Festival.
Public participation has always been
key to Jarrar’s work. “I want my projects
to interact with people,” he says. “Art in
galleries is more for elite people. I want
everyone to be involved; each person
(involved in the stamp project) is an
artist.”
This philosophy has informed his past
works, notably At the Checkpoint, a 2007
photography exhibition staged on the
walls around Qalandia. The display, using
the art form he began with, also garnered
international attention and led to a series
of successful exhibitions abroad.
Jarrar believes in using material rooted
in reality. “Fantasy is for individuals,” he
says. “If you believe in yourself, you must
be useful for humanity and the people
around you. If you have talent you should
use it to affect reality. Fantasy cannot
have this impact. We live on earth.” With
his Sunbird, Jarrar is reaching further
than he could have dared to believe.