ANAMED Gallery in Istanbul hosts 'Palestine from Above' exhibition exploring aerial perspectives and historical erasure

ANAMED Gallery in Istanbul presents 'Palestine from Above,' running from March 19, 2025, to January 25, 2026. This exhibition, originally shown at the A.M. Qattan Foundation in Ramallah during 2021–22, examines how Palestinian territory has been surveyed, mapped, and represented. Co-curated by Yazid Anani, Salim Tamari, Zeynep Çelik, and Zeinab Azarbadegan, the show includes archival materials from Ottoman rule and critiques Western Orientalist misrepresentations. Works by Palestinian artists like Mahmoud Alhaj, Sophie Halaby, Nida Sinnokrot, and Jack Persekian are featured, alongside historical photographs from sources such as the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology and the Library of Congress. The exhibition addresses themes of surveillance, displacement, and ethnic cleansing, though it avoids using the term 'genocide,' opting instead for phrases like 'massacre.' Key pieces include Forensic Architecture's video 'Destruction and Return in al-Araqib' and Gustaf Dalman's photograph 'Natives' from 1914. The show also explores failed infrastructure projects, such as railways, and includes a lecture video by Salim Tamari. Despite its archival depth, the exhibition has been criticized for intellectualizing Palestinian suffering and lacking a clear ethical stance against ongoing violence in Gaza since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.