Who gets to tell the story?

Ahmed Massoud wrote something recently that lands with a rare directness - a line in the sand.

“I can’t help but think that we, Palestinian artists, are being exploited at the moment.

Our art is slowly being stolen from us… we are told what we can and can’t do….

We are encouraged to participate but they want to tell the story.

And to all I say, I don’t really care about the participation, the reviews, the exposure and potential.

I am just someone from Gaza with a story and will continue to tell it. Whether you like it or not”

This post names a dynamic many Palestinian artists recognise: the invitation that isn’t really an invitation.

Because sometimes the door opens - but only if you agree to shrink as you walk through it. Or allow others to take it away.

The defanging of Palestinian art

Mohamed El-Kurd’s framing in Perfect Victims hits this subject with clarity: Palestinians are so often required to be “perfectly amenable” in order to be heard: injured but not furious, articulate but not accusatory, human but not demanding.

Defanged.

No sharp teeth please.

There is also the pressure to make Palestinian work legible to someone else’s comfort. To sand down the edges. To turn a living culture into a curated exhibit - where the institution keeps the authority, and the artist is allowed to “participate” as long as the story stays controllable.

Ahmed’s words refuse that bargain. They refuse the idea that validation - reviews, exposure, “potential” - is worth the cost of self-erasure.

Next week, this refusal becomes a gathering.

From 23/09, PalArt Festival begins at The Pleasance in London - a space for Palestinian artists and collaborators to bring work that is complex, funny, tender, political, experimental, and unapologetically alive.

Work that doesn’t need pre-approval by the other’s gaze.

Work that keeps its teeth.

An invitation (and a question):

If Ahmed’s post makes you uncomfortable, it may be worth asking: What kind of Palestinian story have I been trained to accept?

And if you’re ready to meet Palestinian artists without the demand that they be “good victims,” come.

Come to PalArt at The Pleasance from 23/09 to 3/10.

Come to stories told by the people who carry them.

Festival details (for the footer)

PalArt Festival -The Pleasance (London)
Carpenters Mews
North Road
London
N7 9EF
England

All festival shows / listings: https://www.pleasance.co.uk/events