When the Palestinian visual artist Rula Halawani embarked on an ambitious photographic project, she wanted to pay tribute to her late father, and to the sites of historic Palestine which she visited with him throughout her childhood. When she returned, it was a trip back in time and through memories, as she witnessed how the beautiful countryside where she enjoyed picnics with her father and siblings had been transformed utterly, ravaged by the conflict with Israel. She says that she felt like a stranger in her own home, a dislocation that is palpable in the haunting black-and-white images that feature in the resulting series, entitled For My Father.
Ten of the images will be exhibited as part of A Matter of Time, a major new exhibition at the Crawford Art Gallery. The work was selected before the current conflict erupted in Gaza and features alongside images from 25 Irish and international artists, including Amanda Dunsmore, Sara Baume and Patrick Scott, all exploring the many facets of time.
