Khalil Rabah

Private Collection, Switzerland (acquired directly from the artist by the present owner in 2007)

Brussels, European Parliament, Re-Orientation I: Contemporary Arab Representations, November 2008, pp. 26-27, illustrated in colour
Paris, Institut du Monde Arabe, Palestine: La Creation dans Tous ses Etats, June - November 2009
Kuwait City, Mishref International Fair Ground, World Travel Exposition, March - April 2011

Rose Issa, Contemporary Practices, Vol. VI, Khalil Rabah: United States of Palestine Airlines, Dubai 2011, pp. 76-79, illustrated in colour

This work is in very good condition. There are some light undulations to the map of the world, and some signs of wear to the shelves, partition and sofa, all of which are inherent to the artist's choice media. The colours in the catalogue illustration are accurate.
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Born in Jerusalem but currently based in Ramallah, Khalil Rabah’s national, religious and ethnic preoccupations enable him to engage with conceptual and universal questions relating to the shifting borders of narrative, history and space throughout his work. Rabah playfully investigates, reinvents, and critiques the cause and effects of events. Looking to go beyond the literal description of personal and nationwide actions, Rabah blends the imaginary with the real to suggest a more constructive and original critique within a Palestinian context. Rabah has the art of drawing from disciplines as divergent as institutional critique, social politics, performance and architecture. In his sculptures and installations the artist reconfigures the familiar with characteristic wit and subversive humour.

Throughout his installations, Rabah employs a wide range of media, ranging from conceptual installation and performance, to video and photography. Within United States of Palestine Airlines, Rabah offers one of his strongest and most symbolic installations to date with regards to his Palestinian identity. The installation is divided into eight parts; creating a space that plays host to the office of an imaginary Airline company, in this case of a non-existent Palestinian territory. In a highly playful yet realistic manner the artist creates a ghost office which can only be viewed from the outside; leading to a curious dichotomy between certainty and fantasy. The installation includes a large model plane with an imaginary logo - United States of Palestine Airways - composed of letters from other airlines; a map with haphazardly coloured borders; empty display cabinets; five clocks whose hands are frozen at different times; and a sofa with no client to welcome. This work was first displayed in London in a rented office space, resulting in immediate engagement and interaction between onlookers and artwork: a concept crucial to its purpose. So convincing was the illusion that shortly after the installation was finished, spectators began to inquire for tickets to Palestine. The work also raised questions regarding the legality and actuality of an airline company that could apparently be created without Palestine being a recognized country. Rabah uses the empty airline office, with its omnipresent model airplane on a stand, to encourage sensations of nostalgia, whilst providing a subtle commentary on an individual’s ability and right to travel, a privilege unavailable to many. The map on the wall, with its ever-expanding and far-reaching mesh of pointers, encompasses the immensity of an open world whilst poignantly representing the disenchantment of hope.

Another version of the work, United States of Palestine: Middle East Office was displayed in 2009 in Beirut during the Homeworks cultural forum. This had the additional elements of a bus with the USPA logo to take passengers to the airport for their non-existent journey. Rabah plays with different methods of de-constructing, (in the case of USPA, with the logos of other airlines and the space) intervening conceptually and physically with objects, the space and the concept, to formulate new identities. By examining the ever-changing  map of Palestine, and the difficulties each Palestinian encounters crossing from one town, village, or street to another. The USPA is an eloquent reminder, despite its wit, of the physical situation of these ‘states’. Similarly, one of Rabah’s most iconic works, The Palestinian Museum of Natural History is an elusive national museum that was established, in the words of its newsletter, “to inspire wonder, encourage discovery, and promote knowledge.” With departments spanning fields such as botany, geology, and palaeontology, the Museum newsletter assumes a cheerful naturalism as it describes botanical research encountering territorial obstacles in the field, or considers the legal rights of trees and other natural objects. In this ever-changing installation, history, memory and fantasy collide in the Museum’s exhibition displays: it becomes a museum of the absurd, for Palestine has no national museum of its own. Ultimately, Rabah’s art examines complex issues with a light, yet pointed focus he succeeds in exploring themes of despair and resilience with great skill and above all, a defiant optimism.