Imagining Jerusalem: Best Exhibitions In Palestine

Jerusalem Lives
 At the Palestinian Museum in Birzeit

Jerusalem Lives is the first exhibition ever presented at the Palestinian Museum in Birzeit, which had already opened to the public a year and a half ago but was desolate and empty for a protracted period. The exhibition, curated by Reem Fadda, opened in August; exhibitors include 48 Palestinian, Arab and foreign artists in a combination of traditional art and interactive educational displays.

The show deals with life in Jerusalem, and the representation of Jerusalem – which many Palestinians are unable to visit. Eighteen of the works are sculptures and displays created especially for spaces just outside the museum, There are also sound works by Emily Jacir, who asked drivers of sherut shared taxis from Jerusalem's Old City to shout out the names of destinations they would travel to in the past and which have been cut off from Jerusalem since the State of Israel's founding.

Jerusalem Lives" exhibition at the Palestinian Museum / AFP

Palestinian Museum, Birzeit. Until December 31, 2018

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Karim Abu Shakra in Ramallah

The Zawyeh Gallery in Ramallah is now presenting Metamorphosis by Karim Abu Shakra, born in 1982 to an extended family of artists in the Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm and influenced by his late uncle, Assam Abu Shakra. It's a show of large, colorful and surrealistic paintings incorporating imaginary animals, human character, plants and geometric shapes. Abu Shakra employs many of the familiar symbols found in Palestinian art – an olive branch, sabra cactus and dove, but succeeds in loading them with aesthetics and new significance.

Zawyeh Gallery, Ramallah. Until November 23

Iyyad Arafa in Bethlehem

The independent Bab IdDeir Gallery opened this past April in Bethlehem's Old City. Its first exhibition dealt with the relationship of 20 artists to the city of Bethlehem – including several of the period's leading Palestinian artists. The current exhibition features the work of Iyad Arafa, who was born in Jerusalem and grew up in the West Bank's Dahaishe refugee camp.

Bab IdDeir Gallery, Bethlehem. October 28-December 8

Inas Halabi in Jerusalem

The Al-Ma'mal Institute for Contemporary Art in Jerusalem's Old City has an exhibition by Jerusalem-born artist Inas Halabi, a graduate of the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design and last year's winner of the AM Qattan Prize for young Palestinian artist. Halabi spends a great deal of time dealing with the issues of memory and national identity. Her show, Letters to Fritz and Paul, deals with objects that colonialist take to their own countries in the context of out of their context the stories of Swiss scientists Fritz and Paul Sarian, who went out to investigate the British colonies in the Middle East and Africa in the late 19th century.

Al-Ma'mal Foundation for Contemporary Art, New Gate, Old City of Jerusalem. Until November 24