Jenin

Description

Artist Notes

This piece was created in Summer 2023, following a brief break from painting. One morning, I woke to the news of Israel invading Jenin camp, killing around eight people. I was furious and angry. Later that day, I found myself walking through Stockholm's streets, entering a painting and art supplies shop to buy brushes, materials, and acrylics, as well as paper-based products. That night, I spent drawing and painting, thinking about Jenin. Then it hit me how Jenin was in 2002, with hundreds of people killed, and the situation in the 1930s, then now again? It was like a storm of history erupting in front of me, with bloodshed unfolding before my eyes. I delved into archival newspapers and found the canvas. It was as if I were bringing history back to life, reliving the moment the brush was in my hands. This piece is a memorial and act of resistance, reflecting the brutal history against Jenin. Who can forget the Jenin Refugee Camp massacre of the early 2000s? The way Jenin has been in the headlines has made it unique in many ways.

Preservation Notes

MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION Jenin (2023) is a physical work: a painting and collage in acrylic and mixed media on paper canvas, 42 x 30 cm. Fragments of Arabic newspapers dating from the 1930s through the early 2000s, together with issues from 2023, form the foundation of the picture surface, over and around which acrylic paint is worked. Layering confirmed from the TIFF master (2026-09-10): the newsprint functions as the ground layer and the acrylic sits over it throughout. Large areas of newsprint remain fully exposed across the central and upper composition. Yellow rectangular elements in the upper left and upper right are separate cut or torn collage fragments laid over the newsprint, as is a black-bordered boxed text element at centre. The heavy burgundy passage along the lower edge sits on top of all collage elements and forms the sweeping horizon line. Paint application is mixed: thin translucent magenta and pink washes across the central band, allowing the text to read through; moderate impasto in the cobalt blue passage at upper left; and substantial impasto in the lower burgundy band, with visible directional brushstroke relief of roughly 2 to 3 mm. The support appears unmounted and loose. No mat board, stretcher, backing, or edge adhesive is visible. The top edge shows a slight deckle quality suggesting hand-torn or artisan paper, and the left edge is slightly irregular, consistent with the artist's working edge. CONDITION (assessed 2026-09-10 from the full-resolution TIFF master; requires physical confirmation) Overall the work is in sound condition, with the significant risks being structural rather than active deterioration. Stable: - Minimal cockling. The paper support reads as relatively planar. - No significant lifting or curling on the collaged newsprint fragments; the yellow collage rectangles show clean edge definition. - No major tears detected. - No active flaking. Paint adhesion appears sound throughout. Observed defects: - Scattered light foxing throughout the newsprint, concentrated in the lower left quadrant and along the left edge. - Moderate overall yellowing of the newsprint consistent with age, more pronounced at the upper right corner. - Uneven darkening in select areas, possibly from handling or environmental exposure. - Light water-mark staining at the upper left corner, indicating past moisture exposure. There is a minor crease in the same corner. - Faint pink and magenta halos around some collage text elements, consistent with pigment bleeding or migration into the newsprint fibres at the time of application. This is original to the making, not a later fault, but should be monitored for spread. - Slight crazing within the thick burgundy impasto at the lower edge, following the direction of the brushstrokes. - Subtle creasing where acrylic crosses underlying newsprint in the central area, where the magenta washes cross the text columns. Structural vulnerabilities, in priority order: 1. HIGHEST RISK: the thick burgundy impasto along the lower edge. Its relief above the paper substrate concentrates stress at the paint-to-paper interface, particularly along the curved horizon edge, where the paint film will flex against the paper with any humidity change. This is the most likely site of future delamination and should be the focus of every inspection. 2. The junction between the impasto and the thin paint at centre left presents a potential fracture line under mechanical stress. 3. The thin acrylic washes over newsprint at centre are prone to adhesion loss if the substrate moves dimensionally. 4. Unbound edges are vulnerable to humidity-induced curl, particularly the left edge, where the foxing indicates past moisture exposure. CONSERVATION REQUIREMENTS The support is paper-based (paper canvas with adhered newsprint) and must be treated as a paper object. It is vulnerable to cockling, edge tears and creasing: store and display flat, never rolled. Window-mount with acid-free, lignin-free board and hinge with Japanese tissue and starch paste. No dry-mounting and no pressure-sensitive tape of any kind. STORAGE, revised following the 2026 assessment: store flat in an archival box, interleaved with NON-BUFFERED tissue. Buffered (alkaline) tissue should not be used here. The surface carries acidic newsprint and the alkaline reserve can interact with aged newsprint and with some pigments. Stabilise the edges with acid-free interleaving to prevent curl. Maintain relative humidity at 40 to 50% and keep it steady; the impasto makes this work less tolerant of fluctuation than a flat paper piece would be. The collaged newspaper is an acidic commercial stock never intended to last. Continued acid-driven embrittlement, darkening and staining should be expected and flagged as an ongoing deterioration risk, with potential migration of acidity into adjacent layers. Assessment by a paper conservator is recommended, as is protection from light, moisture and oxygen. Any lifting edges at collage overlaps should be consolidated by a conservator before handling or framing. HANDLING: handle with two supported hands or a rigid backing board, never by the sheet edges. Because the sheet is unmounted and carries raised impasto, it should not be lifted unsupported. Dust only with a soft dry brush, and never over the burgundy impasto. Do not use solvents on the acrylic passages. EXHIBITION: support on Mylar-backed foam board allowing air circulation beneath. Frame with a spacer holding the glazing 2 to 3 cm clear of the surface, so that nothing contacts the raised burgundy passage and no paint transfer can occur. Avoid fluctuating humidity for the duration of any display. UV-filtering glazing is required for all display. The saturated reds, yellows and oranges are the passages most at risk of fading, and in this work those colours carry the primary iconography (martyr dots, the central blood image, the yellow of hope), so light exposure should be strictly limited and cumulative exposure logged. Note also that the reds are graduated by intention, running from transparent magenta at centre to opaque burgundy below; uneven fading would collapse that gradient and alter the reading of the work. DIGITAL RECORD The original capture was scanned in Sweden as a TIFF master in high, medium, and low resolution variants. The medium and low resolution variants are held outside this archive. CURRENT ASSET: TIFF master, 7178 x 10175 pixels, 209.0 MB. Filename FullJenin2023Alijila.tif. Uploaded 2026-09-10. This record now holds the full-resolution TIFF master, uploaded without conversion. It replaces a low-resolution derivative (JPEG, 1411 x 2000 pixels, filename LowJenin2023Alijila.jpg) which resolved to approximately 120 DPI, and before that a 2822 x 4000 derivative at approximately 240 DPI. Neither met archival standard. The master carries approximately 26 times the pixel information of the file it directly replaces. Effective scan resolution: approximately 608 DPI measured against the recorded physical dimensions, roughly double the 300 DPI archival standard. Maximum reproduction size at 300 DPI: 23.9 x 33.9 inches (60.7 x 86.1 cm), roughly double the physical dimensions of the work on each axis. At 200 DPI, suitable for viewing at distance, it will carry 35.9 x 50.9 inches (91.2 x 129.2 cm). Status: RESOLVED. This record now meets and exceeds archival standard. The reproduction blocker previously recorded against this work is cleared. DELIVERY NOTE: At 209.0 MB the master is not a browser-native format and should be treated as the preservation copy only. Any website, catalogue, or print-proofing use should draw derivatives through Sanity's image transformation pipeline rather than serving the master file directly. COLLAGE LEGIBILITY AND SOURCE TRANSCRIPTION The master resolves the newsprint sufficiently to begin transcription. Approximately 60 to 65% of the composition retains legible Arabic text: roughly 25% densely readable, 35 to 40% partially legible beneath transparent washes, and around 35% fully obscured by opaque paint or collage. Elements identified in the 2026 assessment, to be verified by an Arabic-reading cataloguer: - A bold headline at centre right, readable through the magenta wash, transcribed as الحق والاستقلال الفلسطيني (al-haqq wa-al-istiqlāl al-filastīnī, "Palestinian Rights and Independence"). - Printed or stamped text in the right margin reading PALESTINE in Latin characters with the date 1948. - A legible right-aligned column of Arabic body text at upper right, approximately 8 to 10 point. - Multiple columns of continuous Arabic body text at left, interrupted by the magenta passage. - Faint dated text and classified-advertisement sections at lower left. - A grey photographic reproduction at centre left showing architectural detail, with fading typical of newsprint halftone. The typeface and paper stock suggest a Palestinian or Arab publication of the mid-twentieth century. The reference to 1948 is significant and should be confirmed, since it would place source material from the Nakba alongside the 1930s, 2002, and 2023 layers the artist describes. This transcription work should be treated as a cataloguing priority. The newsprint is the historical substrate of the work and is actively degrading; the master is now the most reliable record of what it says, and in time may become the only legible record. PRESERVATION SIGNIFICANCE: this master documents the surface as it stands in 2026 and should be treated as the condition baseline against which all future loss is measured, with particular reference to the foxing distribution, the upper left water staining, and the crazing in the burgundy impasto.

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