V

12.01.2020
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

This is the last text I will write to you. We never lived together, but in the distance, we met.
There is nothing that can be grasped as a truth, there is only the need to re-signify these stories and mutate them until they become yours. And right there is the value and fragility of oral storytelling: one must leave open the possibility that whoever is listening to the story might change it in the light of their own experiences.

هههههههههTRYOUTS ههههههههه

Another point that I had been researching is the reconstruction of the house. The idea of an inflatable reproduction of the house was stuck with me until I realized it makes no sense. Then I understood that there is something ephemeral about my work that is connected with the diaspora.
How can I reconstruct parts of the house? How can I talk about home, about disappearance? Which materials should I use or not use?

The memories of my family are completely connected with fabrics and embroidery, like many other Palestinian families in Chile. Until today, my father works with textiles. Also, traditional Palestinian embroidery is a way to tell and archive family stories. Each family adds their own symbols to their dresses, leaving the stitches of their own stories.
In this exercise, I create the symbols that are significant for me in the story of my family.

DRAWINGS FROM BIRZEIT

Collaboration with Lara Salous and Birzeit University students

Since a long time I was fascinated with the tool that was used in construction, that is simply a thread + chalk. With this in mind and the memory of the plan of the house in Al Makhrour, i wen outside to draw the house, so I could imagine the dimensions of it right outside my window.

You don't need to watch the full video, you can scroll through it to get the idea.

Together with Kyulim Kim, we made some try outs with the beamer from my window. Because of corona, everyone is at home, so we thought that maybe if we project out of the window, all our neighbours could see.
This idea is still in progress and maybe it will be develop together with the cinema idea of PUB.

In the assessment last January I started trying out some materials to project on. I liked the transparency on the material, that created a second space behind the plastic sheet were you could see just colours and also the effect of the movement on it.

I met Lara Salous on the workshop I made in Birzeit, Palestine. After that, we became friends, and we start talking about my family house in Al Makhrour.
Lara, who is currently teaching an architecture curse in the Birzeit University, took the example of the Al Makhrour house as an exercise for her students. She gave them a brief of the house based on the memories of Labibe and other family members that I gave to her and a description of the area. With that information, the students had to draw the house.
Here you can see the different versions of the house that the student gave to her.