Salt Land
As though time was halted, the geology of this landscape indicates no signs of previous life.
Between Sodom and Gomorrah, though civilizations and tribes inhabited this area and prophets and angels crossed from here, today it is a barren land with no visible trace of life. The only references we have are those mentioned in religious texts, mythologies, and archaeological research.
It is as though you are placed in purgatory - crossing between heaven and hell, or two heavens, or two hells; where stories told are of the escape of saints and revolutionaries fleeing the oppression of the emperors and the conquerors who occupied this land.
In a place where colors die, with the exception of shades of gray, you cannot but experience a space that gives room for contemplation and imagination.
You are absorbed by the magical geology of the place, its formation, and the beginning of creation.
This project is an imaginary attempt at life that could have been on this land.
The landscape I always pass through, feeling as though I am experiencing purgatory.
A place where time stops, where I feel like a lost man in a land of salt.
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Bashar Alhroub’s frequent travel between Ramallah and Amman takes him through the Saltland. The drive allows him to view the color spectrum of that area in a different way.
A rich and vibrant color scheme is consequently created in his work.
The usual monochromatic dead sea landscape has been transformed quite drastically, but optimistically, allowing the viewer to experience the series of art works through a colorful lens.
His minimalistic implementation of colors and objects in the landscape give birth to a new perspective, that of mythical and ambiguous art works.
Karim Gallery