The QoF in documenta fifteen
OUR FIRST PUBLIC MOMENT, OR IS IT?

Since we were a very young collective when documenta approached us to take part in its fifteenth edition and despite our initial hesitations to commit to such an endeavor, the projects we presented there reflect both the conceptual and theoretical vectors that emerged from our ongoing debates and discussions on the question of funding, economic infrastructures, as well as knowledge production.

Our presence in documenta fifteen took the form of four different projects that were activated in various ways both locally in Kassel and beyond the framework of the 100 days of the exhibition.
The lumbung, which brought together hundreds of collectives and thousands of individuals both before and during documenta fifteen, proposed a unique structure within which we deployed our processes, invited friends and collaborators, and thought and worked together around issues at the core of our practice.

Welcome to Aka
Or how to connect to a context?

Hosting Eltiqa
Or what economic models can we learn from?

“We approached our collaboration with Eltiqa as a research project. As Eltiqa was showing us work they had been creating, we brought our questions to the conversation. Were they creating political or apolitical art? Can apolitical art even come out of a place like Gaza? Lots of their work shown in Kassel is very playful, very colorful, which would seem to avoid the context of Gaza. Even the research presented alongside the works is sometimes just about the day-to-day issues of artists.

At the same time, these geopolitical questions are inescapable. In our research, we found lots of information about certain years and very little about others. And when we asked Eltiqa about the scarce years, they said, “Oh, this was after the war. For a year or two, we could not produce anything. We were too traumatized. Or we were thinking, ‘Why are we doing art now? Why make paintings that can be bombed and destroyed?’”

You can see how the political and artistic intertwine in, for example, Mohamed Abusal’s beautiful, colorful paintings of cactuses, which are especially interesting because the cactus is a very political plant in the Palestinian context. It was used to create a fence around houses. In many communities in Palestine that were destroyed after the Nakba, the only proof of existence was that the cacti grew back; they recreated the fences around destroyed houses.”

The Smaller the Fund

The more flexible grants are the most useful, according to what they told us. In 2008, they received an unconditional grant amounting to 50,000 USD, which guaranteed their survival. The group was able to independently manage the grant for over six years, to cover the rent of the space, organize several exhibitions, support the production of artworks for non-members, and cover daily transportation expenses over that time. It enabled them to establish the Eltiqa gallery as an open art space during a very difficult period for them as individuals who had lost their jobs within the difficult context in Gaza immediately after the Israeli assault of 2008–2009.

Another Type of Art Dealer: Smuggling Paint into Gaza

The Israeli occupation bans the entry of several food items and other goods into Gaza. Banned items include sage, jam, chocolate, fried potatoes, fabric, notebooks, flower vases, and toys. Cinnamon, plastic buckets, and combs are allowed. Under these odd and unjustified constraints, it is hard to find good quality art materials in Gaza such as canvas, paint, and paintbrushes, etc. Mohamed Abusal tells us that this does not change the expectations of art collectors that the Eltiqa artists will use high-quality materials to produce their artworks. This leads the artists to rely on their relationships with friends and international organizations to smuggle art supplies from Jerusalem and elsewhere into Gaza so they can make their paintings. Often, artists ask collectors to pay them in art supplies instead of money for their participation in art exhibitions. Abusal also tells us that Eltiqa helps young artists by giving them free art materials so they can produce high-quality works to be able to sell them outside of Gaza.

The Political Non-Political Art 

In one of our conversations, Al-Hawajri told us that he uses vibrant colors and apolitical stories in his artworks because since the beginning of his artistic career he wanted to make art for art’s sake. He wished to produce and depict colorful and perhaps fictional memories, in contrast to the political reality. However, although his and the group's practise was founded around a slogan similar to “art for art’s sake,” their artworks are often interpreted through a political lens, particularly when exhibited outside of Palestine. They told us that a political reading is always projected unto their work, regardless of whether they intended it or not. That is how “the other” sees them: as politicized bodies from a politically charged area.


Questions on an Interdependent Wellness

They told us that the Eltiqa gallery spaces have multiple uses. Sometimes they are used as private studios for them to work on their own personal projects, while at other times they are used as open spaces for hosting cultural activities and exhibitions. These seemingly contradictory uses of the space as both private and public provoke endless debate among the founding members. Do we turn the space into our own private studios to use whenever we need? Or do we keep it as a private/public space? These discussions can take up much time and energy, which affects the intensity and frequency of the programming targeting the wider community.

The harvest 
Or how to extend knowledge beyond the limitation of the exhibition’s time and space?

Dayra 
Or how do we liberate the money?