“Through the work of ten artists coming from Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Morocco, Lebanon and Palestine, the exhibition deals with the urban, social and archeological landscapes and environments in destroyed countries impoverished by wars, speculation and the predatory voracity of large gas and oil companies, the post-colonial legacy, terrorism and violence by states, as well as the local, political and religious struggles and the hopeless deserts of exile and emigration.

The artists who form part of the exhibition come from different backgrounds following different narratives. They hold the status of subjects at the border: they inhabit crossroads between cultures, languages and multiple far-flung worlds. Through their own memory and that of their peoples, they have first-hand knowledge about forced migrations, war, exile and alienation as foreigners. However, they refuse to be just victims. They question ideological constructs and appropriate the semiotic and cultural codes of Western society for themselves, breaking down the stereotypes and mythologies of colonial Orientalism, with its imaginary, symbolic portrayals of the unknown “other,” between rejection and sublimation. They are more than just survivors: they are female citizens, activists and travelers between borders, who tear down ideological walls. They are political subjects with their own ability for decision-making and criticism. Their vantage point is not self-referential: it is aimed towards the other, the earth, human communities, the world. They bring up the suffering and poverty which terror and abuses of power cause among the population. They denounce and document the violence and injustice, the pain and solitude of vulnerable people. In their works, they show the potential which art holds as a political, social and thought-provoking tool, as well as the endless capacity for withstanding anything to survive the trauma of history under adverse conditions.”



Waste Lands / Tierras Devastadas is an exhibition co-produced by the San Telmo Museum in Donostia/San Sebastián and Es Baluard Museu D’Art Modern i Contemporani in Palma de Mallorca.

With the cooperation of Galería La Caja Blanca (Palma de Mallorca), Galería Sabrina Amrani (Madrid), Ryan Lee Gallery (New York) and Chitra Ganesh.

With works by Tamara Abdul Hadi, Zoulikha Bouabdellah, Amina Benbouchta, Rana Effendi, Yara El-Sherbini, Mariam Ghani, Kinda Hassan, Larissa Sansour, Parastou Forouhar and Raeda Saadeh.