Abed Abdi
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[edit] Abed Abdi
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Abed Abdi is a Palestinian painter, graphic designer, sculpturer and lecturer of the arts.
Born in February 1942 in Haifa, he belongs to the generation of post 1948 pioneering visual artists, and is considered as one of the most influential Arab-Israeli artists working nowadays.
"........Born in Haifa, Abdi worked as a blacksmith and illustrated Arabic publications that appeared in Israel. After studying in Dresden, Abdi became the first Palestinian to build monumental art on native soil. His allegorical monuments in Galilee, honoring human fortitude and resistance, include a narrative mural depicting Elijah¡s defiance and survival and a bronze monument dedicated to six Palestinians who were shot on Land Day."
Kamal Boullata / The Encyclopedia of the Palestinians/ Philip Mattar, ed. The Encyclopedia of the Palestinians. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2000.
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Abdi Held his first exhibition in Tel-Aviv in 1962. Then, He pursued academic studies at the Fine Arts Academy in Dresden (Germany). His professors were L.Grundig, G. Bondzin and G. Kettner. His masterwork at the Academy received the 2nd prize, which gave Abdi a possibility to spend another year at the Academy and specialize in murals and environmental sculpture.
In 1972 he returned to Haifa, and worked as graphic designer for a number of Arabic language publications, taught arts and designed murals. The city of Haifa awarded Abdi the "Herman Struck Best Artist of the Year" Prize in 1973. That year, he also obtained the Young Artist's award at the Berlin International Youth Festival. The city of Haifa awarded him the "Best Artist of the Year Hermann Struck" award for the second time in 1999.
Abed Abdi has erected a number of memorial monuments and murals: in 1976 -- a sculpture to commemorate the Land Day massacre; in 1984 -- the memorial to commemorate 75 years for the existence of the Galilean municipality of Shefa Amr. In addition, he has painted a number of murals in Haifa, Jaffa and Nazareth.
Abed Abdi has been exhibited among others in Qatar, Israel, Belgium and Bulgaria. He has also participated in over 45 group exhibitions, among them, the joint Palestinian-Israeli exhibition entitled "its possible" which toured the US and Germany between 1988 and 1990. In 1995 he participated in the second exhibition for Palestinians and Israelis in Germany. Also, he participated in the Exhibitions of "Solidarity with the Palestinian People" in Tokyo, Berlin, Brussels, Belgrade and Athens. He also organized and participated in exhibitions with Israeli and Palestinian artists in Tel-Aviv, Haifa and West Jerusalem in the period between 1980 and 1987 defending the freedom of expression and creativity, and seeking the release of artists like Fathi Ghabn.
Abdi is an active member of the Haifa branch of the Israeli Association of Painters and Sculpturers, as well as the Jewish-Arab Center of Beit Hagefen. This has enabled him to unite Palestinian and Israeli artists, and organize joint exhibitions, bringing the prospects of peace closer. Additionally, Abdi founded the Ibda' society for the promotion of visual arts in the Arab Israeli sector. He also founded recently Arabelle - Visual Arts Workshop in Haifa, for the promotion of the visual arts, as well as for deepening intercultural dialogue through the arts http://www.arabelle.info/. Abdi is also currently the president of Al Midan Theater in Hafia. He has been teaching fine arts in the Arab Pedagogical College in Haifa since 1985.
To view works of art by Abed Abdi, please visit his site at [1]
