Bashar Alhroub: Shaman Returns
Bashar Alhroub,1 from the series Shaman Returns (2017) Archival pigment print, 40 x 26.5 cm. Courtesy of the artist.
Courtesy of the artist.
In the summer of 2016, I travelled to the south-western region of Tunisia, on the edge of the desert, hoping to experience something new in this area inhabited by Berbers. What I found instead was the dust and remains of the people who had been there. The Berber tribes used to live in ‘the mining basin’ area. The traditional Amazighi life-asso-ciated with the spirit of nature-began to disappear as a result of colonialization and the persistence of capitalism. This project is a search for remains of the Berber people, which also tracks the impact of the colonialization that played a role in dismantling and erasing their indigenous culture.
Alhroub was born in Jerusalem in 1978 and spent his childhood in Hebron. Alhroub graduated from the Fine Arts from Al-Najah National University, Palestine and completed an MFA at the Winchester School of Art , University of Southampton in the UK. His work deals directly with the polemics of place, how to humanize it and its influence on creativity. Alhroub has exhibited at various museums, biennales and art venues including: Art Dubai , Dubai, UAE (2016); La Fontaine Centre of Contemporary Art, Manama, Bahrain; Abu Dhabi Art fair, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2015); The Age Khan Museum, Toronto, Canada (2015). In addition to participating in several international artist’s residencies and workshop, his artwork has been included in a number of International collections and museums and in many other renowned private collections worldwide.