Adam Rouhana アダム・ルハナ

The Logic of Truth exhibition challenges the foundations of our known reality, exploring how narratives are shaped by discursive power. The exhibition centers on two key questions: the Palestinian people's right to sovereignty in their homeland and photography's role in capturing objective reality. It delves into the manipulation of history and the distortion of truth, highlighting through the case of Palestine how subaltern histories are often rewritten or erased by imperial and colonial powers.

Through the lens of Palestinian-American photographer Adam Rouhana, the exhibition offers an alternative perspective on Palestine, moving beyond the images portrayed by mainstream media. Rouhana’s work captures intimate, everyday moments often overlooked—elderly people sipping coffee, children playing, and families gathering. These images reveal resilience in the face of a brutal and violent occupation, where ordinary moments become acts of defiance and survival. While focusing on Palestinian life, the exhibition also highlights the harsh realities of the occupation, which affects every facet of people’s lives, from their access to healthcare to their education and economic opportunities. Rouhana’s work celebrates both the beauty of everyday life and the underlying resistance to settler-colonial forces. Iconic symbols, such as the watermelon, represent defiance, mirroring the Palestinian flag’s colors.

The Logic of Truth is a counter-narrative, a counter-archive preserving suppressed Palestinian histories. Rouhana’s photographs offer viewers the opportunity to reconsider preconceived notions of Palestine and be introduced to a certain truth.

Text by Taous Dahmani