Dancing Edifices, 2024
Digital paintings on Japanese paper. 50x70.18 cm.
“Dancing Edifices,” is a series of digital paintings in which I aim to evoke visually induced
motion sickness through re-compositions of the spatial architecture of East
Amman's Palestinian refugee camps. This type of motion sickness can occur when
there is visual stimulation in the absence of physical movement. This endeavour
reimagines the camp's architectural challenges, reshaping the physical space's
movement and organisation, transcending the confines of mere bodily motion.
These images open possibilities for questioning or reimagining embodied
experiences within the camp's physical and social structure.
The Palestinian refugee camps are the physical
aftermath of ongoing colonial oppression, standing as living witnesses of a
continuous catastrophe. The
Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan were established as temporary refuge spaces
in response to the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) in 1948 and the subsequent
Naksa (setback) in 1967[1], whereby the Israeli occupation forcibly
uprooted Palestinians from their native land and thousands of the Palestinians
subsequently sought refuge in Jordan[2]. Dancing Edifices explores remnants of an architectural and
social order that continues to affect movement and interaction.
As an extension to this project, the workshop Whispers in Concrete: Exploring Women's Stories with Architecture, was conducted in Hammarkullen Kultur Hus, Gothenburg.
Artwork commissioned by Carl Olson’s stipendiefond, 2023.