Taysir Batniji

September 14, 2012

by Tommy

I became aware of Taysir Batniji’s work recently and his Fathers series captured my attention in particular. Taysir Batniji was born in Gaza in 1966, he studied art at Al-Najah University in Nablus, on the West Bank. In 1994, he was awarded a fellowship to study at the School of Fine Arts in Bourges. Since then, he has been dividing his time between France and Palestine. During this period spent between two countries and two cultures, Batniji has developed a multi-media practice, focusing on photographic or video images since 2001. I became aware of his work recently and his Fathers set captured my attention in particular.

When describing his Fathers series he states:

“These are photographic portraits made in shops, coffee shops, factories and other places where people live and work in Gaza. Their subject is the framed portraits of the “man of the house”, generally the founding father of the shop, now departed, or, more seldom, the present boss. They are hanging behind a desk, placed on the shelves or concealed behind a heap of products and goods that change according the specialty of the shop… A series of “unconscious compositions”* laid out by the owners of the place.”