Hasan Hourani
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Hasan (Hassan) Hourani (Arabic: حسن حوراني, 1974 – August 6, 2003) was a Palestinian artist, born in Hebron. He attended the College of Fine Art in Baghdad, Iraq from 1993-97. In 2001 he arrived in New York and presented his one-man show "One Day, One Night" in the UN building. He then studied at the Art Students League of New York and continued to live in the city for several years. His work has been exhibited in Palestine, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, South Korea, New York and Houston.
In 2003, he returned home for a visit. Like nearly all West Bank Palestinians, he had been barred from traveling across the Green Line to see the sea for many years; but during this trip home, he was able to visit the Mediterranean shore. On August 6, 2003 he went swimming with his young nephew Samer Abu Ajamieh and their girlfriends from Ramallah, and both drowned near the Port of Jaffa.
Hassan Everywhere
At the time of his death, Hourani had completed only 10 of the 40 drawings that make up his whimsical children's book, Hassan Everywhere, in which the character Rihan roams the world in search of the rose of love. That year, his drawings were exhibited at Al-Hoash's grand opening in Jerusalem, and the next year Al-Qattan, a Palestinian cultural foundation, established the Hassan Hourani Young Artist of the Year Award. In 2004 the Qattan Foundation compiled his completed stories and half-rendered drawings, and published Hassan Everywhere.
Hassan's friends are the birds, bees, fishes in the sea and fearful beasts, as he journeys alone but makes his home everywhere. The Paltel Virtual Gallery of Birzeit University writes that Hassan embodies the local as well as the world traveller, from ancient Egypt to the rooftops of New York: "Hassan rides the waves, is fed by the birds, flies on his magic bicycle, sits on the rooftops, always looking on to see the panorama of the world. Finally, the freedom of flight and travel of Hassan in 'Hassan Everywhere' carries particular resonance in the context of the confinement of Palestinians for whom such freedom is a dream."[1]
Influence on Literature
In 2014, Israeli writer Dorit Rabinyan published the novel Borderlife. The protagonist, Liat, an Israeli graduate student in New York, embarks on a passionate love affair with Hilmi, an expatriate Palestinian painter from Hebron. The novel is set in New York in 2001-2003, and ends with Hilmi's tragic death in a drowning accident essentially identical in its details to the one that ended Hourani's life.
Rabinyan neglected to mention Hourani anywhere in the book (foreword, afterword or dedication). Instead, the book's inside cover states that "all events depicted are based on the author's imagination, and any connection to real-life persons and events is purely coincidental." However, in April 2004 Rabinyan published a passionate farewell letter to Hourani in The Guardian,[2] which leaves no doubt that Borderlife 's plot is based on the real-life Hourani and on their personal relationship, whether romantic or not.
In late 2015, Borderlife achieved global fame after right-wing Israel Education Ministry officials excluded it from the literature-major high-school curriculum.[3] In the public debate that ensued, Hourani's name has not been mentioned, and most people following the case remain unaware the novel is based on a true person.
References
- ↑ Paltel Virtual Gallery of Birzeit University
- ↑ Dorit Rabinyan (April 2, 2004). "The exile's return". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-01-07.
- ↑ "Novel about Jewish-Palestinian love affair is barred from Israeli curriculum". January 1, 2016. Retrieved 2016-01-07.