The short film Studio Visit with Fatma Shanan is available to watch at the top of the page.
Fatma Shanan is a renowed artist originally from the Druze village of Julis in northern Israel. She infuses her canvases with the memories and scenery of her childhood home. Using oil painting as her medium, she brings to life captivating self-portraits, portraits of women and girls, and motifs from village life. Shanan’s work poses challenging questions about the role and status of women within the Druze community, aiming to confront and redefine outdated conventions. We invite you to delve into her artistic journey by exploring an exclusive video of her studio and the creative process featured in the top of the page.
Shanan’s artistic focus gravitates towards figurative painting, and her evocative compositions depict theatrical and enigmatic scenes with participants drawn from her own life. With every brushstroke, she challenges rigid definitions associated with the art of painting, along with notions of gender, nationality, and ethnicity.
In her earlier paintings, Shanan devoted attention to the exploration of the oriental rug’s imagery—a seemingly simple household item loaded with cultural and symbolic significance. These rugs, deeply woven into the Middle Eastern socio-cultural fabric, are meticulously designed pieces of art. They depict stories, religious, tribal, or personal symbols, and their quality often signals the household’s wealth and prestige. Each rug abides by its own set of rules and aesthetics, and carries its unique history. The caution children are taught— to avoid stepping on it with shoes or spilling anything on it— only underscores its importance. In contrast, the focus on women’s equality in Shanan’s culture is not as pronounced, which her rug paintings subtly highlight.
In her recent, smaller-scaled works, Shanan often depicts herself surrounded by branches and blossoming flowers sprouting from various body postures. This lush composition, characterized by the numerous distinctive marks and strokes, obscures the boundaries between the figure and its enveloping flora.
To hear directly from the artist, the attached video showcases Shanan as she discusses her chosen painting scenes and the integral role the rug plays in Druze households. Join us in exploring the intricacies of her creative process and her inspirations drawn from the intersecting worlds of culture, tradition, and personal experience.
The featured video Studio Visit with Fatma Shanan is part of the web series Yotsrim by Shachaf Dekel. Yotsrim includes five seasons and 73 episodes. The series won the Best Documentary award at the NYC Web Fest in 2019.
