Connecting people through art 

The Han Nefkens Foundation, in collaboration with Jameel Arts Centre, is glad to present The Jump, the new commission by Shuruq Harb, winner of the Han Nefkens Foundation – Fundaciò Antoni Tàpies Video Art Production Award 2019, in collaboration with Fundació Antoni Tàpies (Barcelona), the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (Manila), NTU Centre for Contemporary Art (Singapore) and WIELS (Brussels).

The Jump explores the psychological terrains of leaping into the void, its potential sense of cosmic freedom, physical thrill, suspension and definitive end. Set within the tectonic rift of the Jordan Valley, the film is narrated by a robotic voice that guides us through dizzying shots of the landscape while speculating the conditions surrounding a Palestinian man's jump into the Mediterranean.

The two other protagonists of the film- author, literary professor Wafa Darwish and psychologist, trauma healer Laila Atshan, reflect on their own experiences of seeking freedom and overcoming the limitations of their disability, while also offering insight into the meaning and motive behind the man’s possible suicide.

The Jump unfolds like a visual poem that suspends the viewer into an otherworldly space, equally hypnotising in its affects, alienating in its details, and emotionally compelling in its reflection.

The Han Nefkens Foundation – Fundació Antoni Tàpies Video Art Production Award supports the work of emerging artists aged 40 and under living in West or Central Asia who have established a solid trajectory but have not yet received recognition by international art institutions. Harb was awarded the competitive prize for her incisive filmmaking providing a critical reading of contemporary existence; a poetic reflection on image production and how this is used in conflict zones.

The work will be presented across the award’s five partner institutions between 2020 and 2022; NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore; the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design in Manila, WIELS in Brussels; the Fundació Antoni Tàpies in Barcelona; and Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai.

Shuruq Harb is an artist, filmmaker and writer. She is the co-founder of several independent art initiatives such as ArtTerritories (2010-2017) and The River Has Two Banks (2012-2017). Her artistic practice focuses on online visual culture and traces subversive routes for the circulation of images and goods. Her film The White Elephant received the award for best short film at Cinema du Reel Festival in Paris, 2018, and was shortlisted for the Hamburg International Short Film Festival, 2019. Most recently she published her first short story and this is the object that I found (2020) at Mezosfera. Her upcoming solo exhibition at Beirut Art Center brings together for the first time several of her artworks in one exhibition.