Khaled Jarrar's Lifelong Confrontation with Denial of Palestine

Khaled Jarrar, a Palestinian artist born in Jenin in 1976, has built a practice that directly challenges the erasure of Palestine. His work spans performance, sculpture, video, and activism, often making international headlines. In 2014, he was barred by Israeli forces from crossing into Jordan for his New Museum exhibition. In 2015, he painted a rainbow flag on the West Bank separation wall. In 2016, he turned a piece of the US-Mexico border wall into a ladder sculpture in Juárez. In 2018, he sold vials of his blood on Wall Street, proceeds going to a Gaza hospital. In 2021, he minted an NFT of soil from a village near Ramallah. His ongoing 'State of Palestine' project, started in 2011, involves stamping passports with a Palestinian sunbird design. In 2023, after relocating to the US, his place of birth was changed to 'unknown' on his green card, inspiring a new project: olive oil auctioned in clay vessels. Jarrar served as Yasser Arafat's bodyguard from 1998 to 2004 and was employed by the Palestinian Authority until 2023. His work often reflects on his military past and the complexities of Palestinian identity under occupation.