As I remember it, when the Palestinian theatre group Al-Hakawati was invited to Japan to perform the first Palestinian operetta "Antar" (1988), a year after it was composed by Mustapha Al-Kurd, I was asked to design the poster.
The story of Antar and Abla is famous in poetry and myth in Arab culture, based on the exploits of a real hero Antara Ibn Shaddad, one of the greatest Arab poets of antiquity.
The troupe's name "Al-Hakawati" is the Arabic term for the story-teller of yore, who would recite such traditional stories as the Arabian Nights to spell-bound coffee-shop guests. One epic was the saga of Antar, the son of an Ethiopian slave woman and an Arab tribal chieftain, who raised Antar as a slave. When their tribe was attacked by an enemy tribe Antar was urged by his father to fight.
Antar replied that a slave neither fights nor flees, so the father uttered the resounding (and rhyming) words: "كر يا عنتر فأنت حر Kur ya Antar fa anta hurr", viz. "Attack, Oh Antar, you are free!". Antar did fight and the battle was won. These are the Arabic words I put in my faux carpet illustration, repeating the word for 'free' three times. The symbolism of the broken chain is self-explanatory, particularly in the Palestinian context because Al-Hakawati Theatre is based in Israeli-occupied Arab Jerusalem.
The Moon is used because in Arab literature a common way to describe the beauty of a woman is to say she is like the Moon.
I was happy with the way the Japanese designer, Kohei Sugiura, placed my illustration in the elegant typographic setting with the startling chrome-yellow background.
Vladimir Tamari - 2013
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Click here to access a high resolution version of this poster
Hi D,
I've invited you to a Dropbox shared folder called "Dan Walsh."
"Hi Dan here are the two with edge added. The one with dashes in the title are smaller. The one with @ in the title are 500 pix wide. Also a new one Antar - this was made when the Jerusalem palestinian theatre troupe visited Japan and performed their play "Antar" here. I did the illustration but an unknown designer did the graphic design (typography and layout)."so glad I didn't carbonize you too much...
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Dan Walsh
8:28 PM (10 hours ago)
to Vladimir
brother...I LOVE this poster. No...really. I mean it.
http://www.palestineposterproject.org/poster/antar-al-hakawati-in-japan
It is one of the hidden jewels and treasures of Palestinian culture that come my way and make the work all worthwhile.
I am dazzled by this one.
Why? For one reason...it was hidden until now. Now the world will see it thanks to you.
Plus also the fusion...I love the fusion of Palestinian culture/symbols/institutions with other cultures. This synthesis transports me and as an artist, which is to say at my
most authentic self, it is the act of being transported that signals to me that I am in the realm of real magic.
It is only a few works that can do this to me. I am very choosy at the subconscious level I guess.
So...I invite you to do the following:
1) send me the date and publisher info.
2) also dimensions
3) write a paragraph or a page or an essay on the GRAPHIC. I can't read it but I can see it and I can FEEL the story in there. Please liberate it for me and the world, tayyib?
I am sure that the elements/iconography go to the elements of the play "Antar"...please open this up to the world.
Also, I don't care who did the design work on the poster. If you ever learn/find out I will add his/her name to the page but for now I insist on having your name there. Khallas...I will not even discuss this further. You good with that?
So happy...you enriched the site so much today.
tadamon,
Dan
Vladimir Tamari
5:09 AM (1 hour ago)
to me
Thanks akhi Dan you made my day with your fulsome praise of the Antar design.
595 mm high X 420 wide
Published in 1989 by La Foret Museum (Tokyo) where the operetta was performed.
Here are my comments:
As I remember it, when the Palestinian theatre group Al-Hakawati were invited to Japan to perform the first Palestinian operetta "Antar" (1988), a year after it was composed by Mustapha Al-Kurd, I was asked to design the poster. The story of Antar and Abla is famous in poetry and myth in Arab culture, based on the exploits of a real hero Antara Ibn Shaddad, one of the greatest Arab poets of antiquity (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarah_ibn_Shaddad#Biography).
The troupe's name "Al-Hakawati" refers to the story-teller of yore, who would recite such traditional stories as the Arabian Nights to spell-bound coffee-shop guests. One epic was the saga of Antar, the son of an Ethiopian slave woman and an Arab tribal chieftain, who raised Antar as a slave. When their tribe was attacked by an enemy tribe Antar was urged by his father to fight. Antar replied that a slave neither fights nor flees, so the father uttered the resounding (and rhyming) words: "كر يا عنتر فأنت حر Kur ya Antar fa anta hurr", viz. "Attack, O Antar, you are free!" - he did and the battle was won. These are the Arabic words I put in my faux carpet illustration, repeating the word for 'free' three times. The symbolism of the broken chain is self-explanatory, particularly in the Palestinian context because Al-Hakawati was based in Israeli-occupied Arab Jerusalem. The Moon is used because a common way to describe the beauty of a woman is to say she is like the Moon. I was happy with the way the Japanese designer (I think it was Kohei Sugiura) placed my illustration in the elegant typographic setting with the startling chrome-yellow background.
Dan - the photo I took has uneven lighting - I will try to send you a better image - but enough for today!
Coming to think of it I will also send you the poster and pamphlet designs (if I can find them) I made for ANERA for the performances of Palestinian musicians in DC and NY.
Do not work too hard - no rush in all of this - the Palestinian problem does not show any signs of disappearing anytime soon.
Vladimir
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Vladimir Tamari
www.ne.jp/asahi/tamari/vladimir/
typography: www.khtt.net/person/2306/en