Opinion
The list of the least powerful people in the art world
At the end of each year, lists like “The Most Powerful in the Art World” emerge, eagerly consumed by those seeking “expert” opinions on influence in the sector. In contrast to this exclusionary narrative, I would like to reflect on “The Least Powerful in the Art World.” At a time when structural discrimination and racism dominate global discourse, it is troubling that the art world is failing to address the ethnic cleansing and genocide that Gaza is suffering under an apartheid state, despite the documentation of Palestinians on social media and human rights organizations.
Drawing on her personal experience, artist Jumana Manna explores the occupation of Palestine from multiple angles. In her 2022 film Foragers, through the protagonists—akkoub and za'atar, plants native to Palestinian fields—Manna reveals how Israeli authorities have banned the harvesting of these plants essential to Palestinian survival, whose small-scale commercialization has been vital for generations.
Jumana Manna, Foragers, 2022, fotograma. Cortesia de l’artista.
Manna’s lens transports us into Palestinian homes where akkoub salads are prepared, and invites us to learn about the lives of those who harvest these plants, despite police and judicial persecution. His work blurs the line between fiction and documentary, mapping gestures that challenge the cultural boundaries and hegemony of land ownership imposed by the conflict. However, Manna not only criticizes the violence in Palestine, but also the complicity of art in silencing voices, including his own. Cultural workers in Europe and the US who support the Palestinian cause have been attacked, defamed, fired or excluded, which Manna describes as “an undeclared embargo on empathy towards Palestine”.
Raised in Jerusalem, Manna experienced the racialized division of her youth, and her time at the Bezalel Academy of Art increased her understanding of this oppressive reality. In her words, “if solidarity with the Palestinian struggle is the limit of self-proclaimed pluralism, it is also the turning point for dismantling this racist status quo.” She is an example of resistance, criticizing the cultural forces that limit identity in the context of occupation and raising questions about hegemony, complicity, and the role of the artist in confronting power, especially when art silences marginalized voices.
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