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Dalal Mitwally

sociaal-maatschappelijk, publieke ruimte, muurschildering, Community, Artistiek onderzoek

I am a Shami (Jordanian) artist and muralist with a focus on public space. My practice attempts to examine the hidden and non-hidden power structures within public space. Mainly utilizing community-based and local research. All my outdoor interventions aim to 'agitate' and 'reclaim' the space's surroundings. My research is heavily context based as it always attempts to emulate the emancipatory potential of engaging in the street. Recently, my research is taking shape in examining the cityscapes of mainly Arab cities through a geological lens. With bursts of instability, rapid urbanization, abandonment and state surveillance, the streets of cities like Beirut, Amman, or Cairo, have all experienced various 'bursts' of reactionary revolution. The research studies these reactions through the analogy of the revolution being an erupt volcano that bubbles up underground and bursts every few years. The research tries to map, index and study this 'volcanic activity'. This mapping process takes into mind the effect of the institution within the city, either foreign NGOs or civil society stations. In the SWANA regions, these institutions become the hidden imperialist agent that wish to garner a crippling dependency of the individual and their community. The relationship between the institution and the people in how it takes shape in the street on its most physical/structural level (like the wall) provides a gateway of change of the internal intricates of the institution through its most external effects that are present in the St. In my practice, the wall is one of my main mediums, both materialistically and metaphorically. The module interests me and intersects with my research in taking the questions of sustainability and maintenance of such structures to a different lens surrounding autonomy and adaptability. Building radical structures under 'volcanic' landscapes pushes how our collective structures survive in instability and even thrive in it?

Last Class - Belfast, Northern Ireland
Last Class - Belfast, Northern Ireland - Mural conducted in Belfast as part of Seedhead Arts Festival
“This is no longer a beach” - Paris, France
“This is no longer a beach” - Paris, France - A postcard scene depicting a beautiful sunset beach scene in Gaza 2 years ago. Next to it a quaint Parisian cafe with bystanders enjoying their Sunday afternoon.
Anger Ablution - Linz, Austria
Anger Ablution - Linz, Austria - Ablution through fire; to purify ourselves intentions to the purest forms of anger. Like prayer, rid your body and mind of life and meditate on what’s beyond. The flames of anger are the ablution towards focusing beyond its destructive forces. We use our rage as a glue for our shared pain, yet there’s a limit to what it’s able to do. Rage comes in different forms, many of which embers only feelings of guilt from the oppressor. Rather guilt is just another form of impotence, it only protects ones ignorance and continue the forms of oppression. My anger is not accepted in the coloniser’s world, it is far from civility, yet I have no interest anymore in how you meet my anger nor of your guilt. So I leave it there, I take what I want from it and leave the flames to burn the empire. I am not angry anymore, rather I don’t describe myself as angry. Now it has become an arsenal of ammunition that is ready to use while I make my gun. In hopes of radical alteration against the oppressor. Inspired by Audre Lorde’s essay, The Uses of Anger, she says: “But anger expressed and translated into action in the service of our vision and our future is a liberating and strengthening act of clarification , for it is in the painful process of this translation that we identify who are our allies with whom we have grave differences, and who are our genuine enemies.” I resorted to the fire in tis more simplest and abstract forms of rage as understood, as it spews flames defying the Danube river’s waters. The act of painting in large scale this flame was my own ablution, as no other subject seemed to fit after October’s flood. Till now, I understand that the usefulness of my anger becomes void in the uselessness of my practice.
Liberation is Within Arm's Reach - Mannheim, Germany
Liberation is Within Arm's Reach - Mannheim, Germany - This mural depicts a scene overlooking the Lake of Tiberias from the North of Jordan. Lake Tiberias is enclosed by the imaginary borders of the occupied Golan Heights in Syria and the occupied Tiberias Village/District in Palestine. A meeting point for three seemingly different countries which borders have been scorched by foreign hands but the land refuses to recognise.
Invisible Ruby City - Ferizaj, Kosovo
Invisible Ruby City - Ferizaj, Kosovo - Being invited to Ferizaj to address the topic of Utopia, it’s very easy to retreat to the ideal, a beautiful and magical scene far away from reality. But in some sense, I found more interest in placing this absurd like magic as a way to interact with reality. The mural is the conclusion of a story of the city, Ruby. An imaginary invisible city that resides in parallel with Ferizaj, inspired by other invisible cities that can be found in Italo Calvino’s book, ‘Invisible Cities’. In Ruby you are greeted by an ancient Illyrian dragon that guards the city and also checks for your visa. As you go up its tree shaped map, you find fairies and witches inhabiting the city. This was created with Mural Fest artivists as we tried to come up with not only how such a city looks, but how would it function, who would live there, and how can we access it from Ferizaj? After imagining our city, we started to unearth it in Ferizaj by placing red dots that signified portals, houses, stores, and buildings of Ruby. Eventually, the mural had the biggest red mark which allowed you to enter this imaginary city, a time where our world becomes flipped and we’re in a new place. Ironically enough, the landscape within the picture, while not being urban and might not signify much at first glance. Within those mountains lies an actual ancient castle that’s also unearthed and invisible to us. The mural then becomes a multi-layered accumulation of a deeply rooted and nostalgic past while symbolising part of our imaginary futures all being placed onto our resulted complex present.
The Column - Amman, Jordan
The Column - Amman, Jordan - The column is a Mural in collaboration with Spanish artist Jofre Oliveras. The work talks about our individual responsibility in society. It has opposite interpretations depending on the beholder, because the same image can be oppressing or empowering people. The capital is a symbol of the cultural heritage, in this image it’s one of the Nabatean column of Petra. The mural shows local cultural elements but it also represents issues of a global society.
Find Home - Patras, Greece
Find Home - Patras, Greece - Early 2021, I received an invitation to create a mural for ArtWalk Festival in the city of Patras, Greece. Since knowing about it I’ve taken the time to research to slowly conceptualise the work. I focused on the idea of exile, migration and displacement. My focus on those themes was to try to string between the narrative that I’m surrounded with back home and finding commonalities in a completely new environment. This ‘stringing’ wasn’t as linear as it may seem, it left me in a room filled with many ideas. These ideas came from inspirations of Etel Adnan’s works, the history of Smyrna an its destruction, contemporary news and politics about Greece’s migration policies. Arriving to Patras, I took a few days to dig deeper. I came there with some guiding ideas but tried to keep an open mind and ensure a gradual development as I explored and played with the city more and more. Much of what I had in mind switched and altered as I spent days experiencing Patras. I'd pick up leaflets from the street, cut out pictures from newspapers, see the architecture better all to see the common visual language there. But I also had the chance to talk to some wonderful people that help migrants and refugees. To mostly shed light on Kinisi, a collective initiative spearheaded by Nikos Papageorgiou who also kindly allowed me to search in the initiative's photo archive of more than 3,000 photos throughout the years. Smyrna stayed on my mind but Patras had new waves of the youth and contemporary narratives, the sea is what really connected these two timelines for me. Finding a poem by George Seferis a poet from Smyrna that really stuck with me. The idea of home and youth colliding with the sea was really prominent. The concept of the mural goes under the themes of displacement and exile. An attempt to tie in migration narratives from a 100 years ago, following events like the destruction of Smyrna in 1922 and current refugee situations present in Patras. What connected both of those narratives is the sea and its horizon. The work tried to depict a group of young men sitting by the port of Patras with its recognisable mountain behind. The figures are in conversation with the sea horizon behind them, offering a contemplative moment. A moment that is not at all unfamiliar to many yet poses different heaviness and meaning. The sea becomes the vast abundance of answers to questions of having a better life or looking back at the past in attempts to find home.
Imagined Spaces - Amman, Jordan
Imagined Spaces - Amman, Jordan - A three part mural series as part of an upcoming documentary film interviewing women that have experienced domestic violence and threats. These women had to flee from their families to the outskirts of cities under anonymity to hide away from the public for the sake of safety with no other resort. In the interviews, the women describe their dream spaces, thoroughly going into detail how they would like their house to look like, from the colour of the coaches to the view outside the house. The murals depict a collection of imagery that the women described in how they’d want the rooms of their houses to look like. The murals attempt to re-instate the thoughts and dreams of women in a large scale manner back into public space, a space that they don’t feel safe and hide from. The living room describes a space where the sun hits their face, a place of leisure by herself for herself. A time to watch TV, have coffee or snacking at night to chestnuts and popcorn. This sense of leisure that is a luxury of sorts. Most that was described was the feeling of openness in the room, the sun rays hitting everywhere and feeling of serenity and calmness.The quote is derived from one of the interviews from the film.

New Radicalism Mural Intervention

Datum:
Locatie: Noord
In samenwerking met: AWAKE

A two part mural series under the New Radicalisms Biennale with the theme Doe Neutraal.

https://www.newradicalisms.world/

Museum Murals

Datum:
Locatie: West-Kruiskade
In samenwerking met: Nederlands Fotomuseum

Currently working on two murals centered around the Fotomuseum's archive and permanent collection.

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