Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
On the facade of the Palace of Fine Arts building in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, the EU "Bozar" huge banner. In blue, it is the same color as the road signs in Brussels that indicate where you are, the route to be taken and the distance. It's also the same blue as the EU flag... On the banner is a sentence written in Arabic that reads "we are here".
This was an advertisement for an exhibition that ran from the tenth to the twenty-second of January. According to the organizers of the exhibition, through this deceptively simple statement, the artist Emily Jacir challenges the idea of two distinctly different spaces that make up "Europe" and the "Arab world".
During her visit to Brussels, she discovered that she was able to move around the entire city speaking only Arabic. Dar Jacir for Arts and Research, an artist-led space she founded in Bethlehem, was officially registered in Brussels 3 years ago as an international non-profit organization, yet no bank will open an account for it.
As the war continues in Ukraine and Bozar raises its flag in solidarity, Emily Jacir reminds us that Palestinian refugees, one of the world's largest and longest standing issues, are still waiting to return home.