by Mike Rhode
Mohammad Sabaaneh is a self-taught Palestinian cartoonist,
who, like all good editorial cartoonists, often finds himself in trouble with
both the Israeli and the Palestinian governments. Notwithstanding the need to
teach art, and the regular seizure of his artwork when he returns from
travelling (and thus he says he only carries reproductions personally),
Sabaaneh has been able to compile a book,
White
and Black: Political Cartoons from Palestine (
JustWorldBooks, 2017; $20). While
touring the East Coast for this publication, he stopped in Washington to
introduce a small exhibit of his linocut art.
 |
| Malcolm |
Linocut is a negative printing process made by using sharp
tools to engrave a piece of linoleum, and then inking it, and pressing it into
paper. Sabaaneh was taught the technique by
World
War 3 Illustrated’s Seth Tobocman in New York. He took the gravers back
with him to Palestine, found linoleum from a hospital’s floors, and found a
substitute for the ink that was unavailable at home, and began making art. In
his artist's statement, he wrote, “When I do linocut, I feel like I am giving a
gift to myself! It is so exciting when you carve the linoleum, then cover it
with the ink, then press it… and just waiting to find the result. No-one around
you understands what exactly you are doing. I feel that I am creating a version
of myself as well as creating art. The amount of wet black ink on the paper
reflects me, and reflects the world around us. My daily political cartoon is
influenced by the linocut technique and I like the results. Linocut is also one
of the most important techniques for producing political posters.”
 |
| The Weight of Occupation |
The
exhibit consists of fewer than twenty pieces hung around hallways in a
small office area, some of which
seemed thematically out of place such as “Malcolm” which is a portrait of the 1960s
black
American activist Malcolm X. Others are what one expects from a
cartoonist who
refuses to collaborate with those he considers occupiers, to the extent
of
turning down exhibits with Israeli cartoonists in Europe. “The
Dictator’s
Melody” in which a uniformed man conducts an orchestra as bombs fall
behind
them, or “The Weight of Occupation” which shows a bald man carrying a
slab engraved with tanks and bombs, fit into Sabaaneh’s main concern –
freedom for
Palestine. However, he notes, “I think as a Palestinian cartoonist I
should not
rely on my topic. Yes, Palestine is one of the most important topics
around the
world, and that has helped me to spread my art all around the world. But
as an
artist I believe that my art should consist not just of a strong
message, but
it also should be good art.”
 |
| The
Dictator’s
Melody |
I found the strongest pieces in the show to be two pieces, “Resisting settler colonialism everywhere” and “She carries remembered worlds,” each depicting
generic Palestinian people, a man and a woman, with their bodies fading into
buildings. Both evoke a strong sense of place and purpose, more so than “Can
you chain a heart?”, an image of a heart wrapped in chain. The exhibit also
contains a long “History of Palestine Frieze” which is about five feet long and
shows a history of the occupation via cartoon figures. Sabaaneh says he plans
to do more large-scale works like this, and has recently completed one on the
subject of women.
 |
| She carries remembered worlds |
 |
| Resisting settler colonialism everywhere |
 |
| Can
you chain a heart? |
At the exhibit opening,
Cartoonist Rights Network International’s
Bro Russell interviewed Sabaaneh, who then also took questions. (The
Fund has said that a transcript will be soon made available on their
website). The audience
was made up of students and people already familiar with the Palestinian
cause,
which Sabaaneh says actually works against him, because most of the
people who
come to see him at a talk or an exhibit are already convinced and do not
need
to argue with him or his work. For those not familiar with his work, the
exhibit and the book are a good introduction to a world where political
cartoonists still matter enough to be regularly threatened with more
than job
loss.
 |
| History of Palestine Frieze segment |
(This review was written for the International Journal of
Comic Art 20:2, but this version appears on both the IJOCA and ComicsDC
websites on November 18, 2018, while the exhibit is still open for viewing.)
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