Palestine From Above

The catalogue accompanying Palestine From Above, an exhibition that examines how Palestine was perceived in historical, political, and cultural contexts, is published in Turkish and English. Edited by one of the curators, Prof. Dr. Zeynep Çelik, it documents the aerial gaze in concrete and abstract terms. Palestine from Above was first displayed at the A.M. Qattan Foundation in Ramallah, from 11th September 2021 to 21th January 2022.

To cast a fresh look at the exhibition and the catalogue, Middle East historian Prof. Dr. Rashid Khalidi will deliver a speech. Khalidi argues that the exhibition and the book reveal the historical depth of Palestine and deconstruct the belief in a land without a people for a people without a land. In his own words, this willed amnesia, this purposeful erasure of history and context, these distortions, are a chronic, necessary feature of settler colonialism; the surest way to eradicate a people’s right to their land is to deny their historical connection to it. The images and texts presented here seek to counter this amnesia, this erasure, and these distortions.

The exhibition and the catalogue address the violence in the Middle East, the rise of war technologies, and the ongoing destruction in Gaza. Archival documents, photo albums, maps, letters, videos, and artworks reveal how the aerial gaze was used as a tool of surveillance and how it manipulated Palestinian history. The reiteration at ANAMED revisits the historical process in light of the recent genocide. Curated by Yazid Anani, Zeinab Azarbadegan, Zeynep Çelik, and Salim Tamari, with Asma’ Al-Mozayen as assistant curator, Palestine From Above will be on view at ANAMED until January 25, 2026.