Amanda Boulos on work inspired by oral narratives of the Palestinian experience
On Sept. 16, U of G MFA grad Amanda Boulos was announced as the winner of the 20th annual RBC Canadian painting competition for her work titled “In the Morning.” According to the artist, the piece’s title is a play on the word “mourning,” as it looks at death as “a way of renewal instead of something unfortunate” and the “transformative and metamorphic” aspects of tragedy. Furthermore, this oil on panel work looks at how death changes those close to the deceased.
In an interview with The Ontarion, Boulos described her work as “intuitive and natural” and making use of “surreal imagery” and cultural symbols of death. Her painting uses “devils as a symbol for colonialism.” Boulos’s most recent work is centered around a fictional story titled “In Memory of Mabid,” which focuses on the death of a Palestinian boy at the hands of rebels amidst the Lebanese civil war. In many of her pieces, Boulos takes inspiration from the oral narratives of the Palestinian experience. Rather than focusing on death and struggle, Boulos chooses to focus on the “positive and transformative elements” of the Palestinian experience.
Boulos, speaking on her work in the Toronto Palestine Film Festival, said: “People come in expecting or wanting to see a Palestinian struggle…and as soon as we show a different kind of narrative they’re jarred and don’t understand it.”
As an artist she chooses to challenge the typical historical narrative of death and struggle and present a story that looks at the Palestinian experience with more humour as well as touching on topics like love and lust. Although presenting an unconventional narrative, her works have been very well received. Boulos stated that the community “is the best part of being in the arts field” going so far as to say that “we [artists] survive off our community.”
It seems a strong community is necessary because despite her work being well-received in the arts world she stated that Palestinian focused art “gets a lot of abuse, online trolling … people who show up to our events and protest our existence.”
“It doesn’t debilitate me,” Boulos continued. “I’m still able to make [art] because I do have an amazing community that supports me.”
In addition to the support she receives from her community Boulos was incredibly thankful to win the RBC painting competition. “It’s unreal,” she said. “You rarely get this opportunity to win a national award.” Along with the award, Boulos’s work will be featured in the RBC Canadian Painting Competition exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada, located in Ottawa. Following her award-winning work, Boulos is already working on her next project, which she said would be coming soon.
Article by Iyess Sassi