Saatchi gallery refuses to change erroneous references to ‘Palestine’

The Saatchi gallery has declined to change a painting description in its current exhibition which repeatedly refers to areas inside Israel’s internationally recognised borders as “Palestine”, saying that it does not “take a position on the political or historical interpretations that may arise from an artist’s work.”

The gallery is currently exhibiting a work called “shifting sands”, by Dima Srouji. Srouji was born in Nazareth, Israel, in 1990, despite the description claiming she was born in ‘Palestine’.

The caption alongside the work says that it was “an ode to the river Belus south of the city of Akka, Palestine.”

The river, better known as the Na’aman, is again within Israel’s internationally recognised borders, as is the city of Akko.

The exhibit description goes on to say: “Due to the rich sands and high amounts of silica, this river was a centre of worship. The same sand was extracted from the Belus to make raw glass in large furnaces in what are now archaeological sites all around Palestine. From the raw glass cubes, glassblowers in Palestine, Lebanon, and Egypt made vessels used for rituals of mourning, celebration, and cleansing.”

The first mention of glassblowing taking place in the region dates from the 1st century BCE, when the land was populated both by Seleucid Greeks and the local Jewish population.

Finally, the language in the Saatchi gallery claims that “This infinite cycle that exists between the land, the glass objects, and the Palestinian body are teased out in this installation through a 3.5-metre glass river. Today, the River Belus (Naamein) is highly polluted as Israeli weapons factories surround the area, eroding its historic properties and causing rising cancer rates in nearby cities.”

There is no indication in any mainstream media sources that any Israeli weapons factories which may or may not be in the area have polluted the river.

Responding to an inquiry from Jewish News, the museum said: “The gallery presents artists’ work and respects how artists choose to describe themselves and contextualise their practice. The accompanying text reflects the artist’s own perspective.

“The gallery does not take a position on the political or historical interpretations that may arise from an artist’s work, and has no further comment to add.”

The Saatchi gallery was founded by Charles Saatchi in 1985. The Saatchi family came to England after fleeing persecution in Iraq in 1947. In 2019 Charles Saatchi handed over control of the gallery to a charitable trust which now has four trustees, none of whom appear to be Jewish.