The conflict between Israel and Hamas has polarised the art world. While institutions have largely remained silent, artists have made public declarations. In these challenging times, the exhibition Etel Adnan & Simone Fattal: Voices Without Borders (until January 1, 2024) at KINDL – Zentrum für zeitgenössische Kunst in Berlin, curated by Sébastien Delot, takes on even greater significance. Etel Adnan, who passed away in 2021, expressed her profound connection with literature through her poetry, paintings and texts, emphasising a commitment to feminism, politics and art. This commitment is driven by a sense of radicality and a belief in the power of words to oppose war.

Adnan's practice, which she usually defines as her “voice”, has long intrigued numerous art experts, including the curator Hans Ulrich Obrist. They have pondered whether her art reflects the experience of exile, a postmodern or postcolonial context, or if it surpasses these classifications to encompass a complex state that blends both universal and personal aspects simultaneously. In an interview with Al Jadid magazine in 1998, Adnan explained: "There is a combination of the outer apocalypse and the inner apocalypse, and my work reflects that along with issues of exile."

Based on this elixir, the Voices Without Borders exhibition at KINDL cherishes the harmony proposed by both Etel Adnan and Simone Fattal’s diverse and scattered practice spanning 35 years. Adnan and Fattal both originated from the Arab world. These two remarkable individuals, who were also life partners, have left an enduring legacy in art, literature and political activism. Above all, the exhibition showcases the diverse nature of their individual and collaborative works, providing profound insights into their artistic and literary accomplishments.

Adnan, a renowned poet, painter and philosopher born in Beirut and later living in Paris, played a pivotal role in the Arab modernist movement. Her diverse cultural influences and academic journey from Lebanon to France and eventually the San Francisco Bay Area significantly shaped her perspective. While her passion for writing and poetry was evident from a young age, it was during her time as a philosophy teacher in California that she discovered her love for painting, with the ever-changing beauty of Mount Tamalpais becoming a prominent muse in her evolving artwork.

Adnan found the line between language and painting blurring as she responded to the Algerian War which started on November 1, 1954. During this major conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front, Adnan responded to the colonial influence by choosing to detach herself from the French language she spoke fluently, expressing that she no longer found it necessary for her writing. She planned to utilise Arabic for her artistic expression, particularly in her paintings, as she was residing in Beirut during the time of the French mandate. Her leporello creations harmoniously combined painting, calligraphy and poetry elements, and in her book The Arab Apocalypse (1989), she skillfully intertwined graphic symbols within the literary text. In her video of the same title, Adnan intentionally chose words to capture the profound tragedy of Lebanon's harrowing 15-year civil war. These words were carefully selected to mirror the emotional resonance of the Arabic language. In the book, the sun serves as an enduring, vigilant observer, bearing witness not just to the plight of the Arab population but also to the suffering of all oppressed communities. A black, eye-shaped circle accompanied the poet's lines: “A sun of iron walks in a forest of guns [...] an eye bursts open.”

Adnan believed that artists are responsible for empathising with the human experiences and suffering caused by war. Through their art, they can document and express the emotions, stories and realities of those affected by conflict. Adnan saw artists as truth-tellers who challenge the prevailing narratives of war. They can use their creativity to challenge and question the actions of governments and institutions, highlighting the often devastating consequences of war. Can art be instrumentalised in times of conflict and provide a space for reflection, contemplation and healing? For her, it was possible.

But how? How can the brush of a painter or the pen of a poet defeat an army equipped with high-tech weapons or unfair strategies set by global policymakers by abusing power?

Adnan sometimes alluded to the philosophy of nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience, as exemplified by figures like Leo Tolstoy and Mahatma Gandhi. By showing kindness and understanding, victims can choose a path of non-violence and peaceful protest in the face of oppression or injustice. By suggesting that victims "set the problem differently", Adnan emphasised the importance of changing their perspective. This could involve looking for creative and non-confrontational ways to address their issues instead of perpetuating a cycle of violence or hatred. She suggests moving away from destructive methods and instead focusing on positive cultural and economic competition.

Adnan highlights the importance of steering clear of annihilation and catastrophic outcomes and, instead, advocating for sustainable solutions such as dialogue, diplomacy, cooperation and innovation. In fact, in her 1998 interview with Al Jadid magazine, she clarified her thoughts by referencing the atomic bomb’s consequences on humanity and indicating “there are victories in history that are worse than defeats." Her viewpoint underscores the significance of addressing deep-seated hatred and animosities through open communication, mutual understanding, and empathy to pave a more constructive path forward in times of conflict.

Adnan saw her work as being partly mediative and described the purpose of her poetry book titled There: In the Light and the Darkness of the Self and of the Other (1997) in her Al Jadid magazine interview: "It was addressed immediately to the Arabs or the Americans or the Jewish Americans. But the poems are really a meditation on 'conflict' particularly us—the Arab East—who live in a conflict since World War I, a whole century of conflict, a century of resistance. It is exhausting. We are exhausted, we lost a whole century. But we are still building, in spite of our good or bad (Arab) governments, the people are courageous. They never give up. Every Arab country this century has experienced internal or external wars; instead of advancing we are always returning to point zero. It is not totally our fault, because the balance of power works against us. So, lately I thought we should not give up but change the nature of our struggle; that really is the book’s aim.”

Adnan often sought solace and emotional release through her art, holding a strong belief in its capacity to aid individuals and communities in coping with the impact of trauma. This perspective becomes evident in her artworks' frequent use of vivid and captivating colours such as pink, orange, yellow, red, green and blue. She orchestrated the colours to create a new language to express her reaction to the conflict around her. The recurring motif of the sun in her pieces, often represented as a crimson square or circle, was a cornerstone upon which she constructed her paintings. This enduring fascination with the sun had its roots in her formative years in Beirut, where the sun and the sea were constant, ever-inspiring companions, possibly offering a way to alleviate her feelings of homesickness.

For Adnan, colour transcended being a mere visual tool; she perceived it as a conduit between the tangible and the abstract, enabling her to convey the essence of her experiences, beliefs and connections to the world. Take her work Family Memoirs on the End of the Ottoman Empire (2015), displayed at the Istanbul Biennial in 2015, which is a sensitive piece that expresses her bitter admiration for her familial roots and memories. Her work serves as a testament to the profound capacity of art to transcend the boundaries of language and culture, making the intangible tangible and the unspoken comprehensible.

‘Etel Adnan & Simone Fattal: Voices Without Borders’ is on view at Maschinenhaus M1, KINDL – Centre for Contemporary Art until January 1, 2024.