JO Magazine

More and more galleries are finding the funds to bring foreign artists to Amman, hoping their presence will counteract the brain drain on the city’s art scene.

Words by Yeganeh June Torbati.

IF, WHILE RUNNING ERRANDS downtown in the last month, you spied a shiny-haired, sunglassed fellow wearing a silver chest-plate, black tights and silver boots, who was chatting up some confused-but-grinning shop owner, you weren’t imagining things. You just caught a look at Amman’s own visiting superhero, Johnny Amore.

Here since late March through Makan’s artist-residency program, Amore, a native of Germany, is spending six weeks introducing Jordanians to his alter ego. When he’s not holding workshops to teach gifted children how to be superheros, he’s wandering the streets of Amman having his own adventures—all in the spirit of fun and exploration—and posting the results on his blog.

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Amore said he was drawn to apply to Makan’s residency program last year because Jordan was a complete mystery to him.

“You don’t know if the women are all covered,” he said, describing his own preconceptions about the Middle East. But after meeting Ola Khalidi, a coordinator at Makan, in Berlin last October, Amore said he realized “there’s totally no difference in the end.”

Khalidi said she was eager to see how Amore and Amman would react to each other’s quirks.

“I find it different and exciting how the city will interact with him,” she said. “So far it’s been very good.”

Amore agreed, saying that people who’ve encountered his superhero persona have all reacted well. Most specifically, he’s enjoyed the workshops he runs with local children, “You go to people, they laugh, you make them happy,” he said. “People know about superheroes all over the world, so it’s not new. They’re open to it.”

When the Superhero goes to bed, Amore spends his time researching questions about Jordanian life that interest him. Not the typical issues that occupy academics, like water shortages and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Instead, he’s asking why everyone seems to have tissues with them at all times, why there are so many cats wandering the streets of Amman and what the deal is with the annoying music that announces the presence of propane delivery trucks.

“I’m looking at things you don’t recognize anymore,” Amore said. He will present his findings and photos from his time in Jordan in a final presentation at Makan on May 6.

Makan’s program is just one part of a growing network of artist residency initiatives in Amman which, gallery directors say, are attempting to stir up the art world here.

“The scene in Amman is a bit quiet,” especially compared to those in Cairo, Beirut and Damascus, said Ala’ Younis, acting director of Darat Al Funun, which has hosted foreign artists since it opened in 1993. “Curators and exhibition organizers are not interested in quiet countries.”

The quiet can be chilling: Khalidi said many young artists feel they have to leave Jordan for more art-conscious cities. To counteract the brain drain, talent has to be imported—so a year and a half ago, Khalidi started the residency program. Today, it hosts Arab artists through an exchanges with institutions in Beirut, Alexandria and Cairo, and takes applications for non-Arab artist residencies as well. All artists stay for short periods of at least six weeks.

For almost a decade, Darat Al Funun’s program was the only one of its kind in Amman. But recently, several other galleries have also opened their doors to Arab and non-Arab artists.

The Royal Film Commission is busy setting up its own residency program for foreign artists, said Rula Nasser, an operations manager there. They had a trial run last month with Swedish filmmaker Katarina Nich, who will return in June to work on a documentary involving Jordanian women.

Darat Al Funun’s neighbor in Jabal Al Weibdeh, Dar Al Anda, started a residency program in 2002 when it found itself with a newly renovated room next to the gallery that could conveniently house guest artists, said manager Majdoline Al Ghezawi Al Ghoul. In May, Dar Al Anda will host two painters, one French and one Iraqi, who will produce an exhibition together, Al Ghoul added.

While Darat Al Funun is supported by the Khalid Shoman Foundation, other galleries have had to find different ways to support the cost of artist residencies.

Each residency Makan hosts is funded by a different institution, usually from the country of the visiting artist, but not always. Johnny Amore is here with funding from the Goethe-Institut, a German organization that promotes cultural exchange worldwide.

The RFC’s program is supported out of the organization’s general fund, but Nasser said the guest artists have to pay for their own travel and living expenses; the only expense for the commission is giving the artists access to their library and equipment.

The RFC hopes that the presence of foreign artists will nurture the small, growing community of local filmmakers here.

“It’s all inspiration, motivation and seeing other people work and being inspired by it,” Nasser said. “Getting people who are really professional in filmmaking will help [Jordanian filmmakers] develop their skills.”

Different programs have different expectations. At Makan, the visitors are meant to come, produce some sort of presentation or exhibition, and then move on, hopefully taking a taste of Jordan back with them to their home countries and raising international awareness of Jordanian art.

“We tailor it to what they’re interested to do,” Khalidi said. “There’s no pressure to produce work.”

Jordanian artist Samah Hijjawi said Makan’s Arab artist exchange program is unique and the first she had heard of in the region. She herself participated in it in 2008, in an exchange with the Alexandria Contemporary Arts Forum in October of 2008. She used her time there to research a performance piece that she says she will eventually present in a public space.

“There’s just not enough place and space for artists to get to know each other’s work in the Arab world,” Hijjawi said. “When you go into these institutions you have the chance to engage with other people, with other artists. It’s a good place to meet them.”

See more of Johnny Amore at: www.the-superhero.blogspot.com.