Sewing the Room, 2024
Live performance. 20 mins, fabric map. 250x150 cm, sewing thread, sewing needle
This performance is an invitation to engage deeply with what remains after destruction and to find new meanings and possibilities within these structures. Sewing the Room is an experiential performance where I literary sew my body and the public's with the very fabric of the room itself. Through this act, I am aiming to disrupt the social and physical boundaries of the space, inviting the public to question the impact of social architectural challenges of a space and how they affect bodily experiences. The performance reaches its climax as I sew my feet onto a fabric map representing my hometown in East Amman, in a Palestinian refugee camp. This gesture spatializes my personal experience with social architectural constraints, extending it beyond its context and transforming it into a tool for critiquing different physical structures that restrict bodily motion in other environments.
The performance also incorporates a sound projection, beginning with amplified breaths and ending with soothing lullabies traditionally sung by Arab mothers, aiming at extending inner bodily experience to the physical space. This sound piece has been developed as a collaborative work with the Syrian artist Alqumit Al-Hamad.
The Palestinian refugee camps are the physical aftermath of ongoing colonial oppression, standing as living ruins 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]. Sewing the Room explores remnants of an architectural and social order that continues to affect movement and interaction.
[1] Department of Palestinian Affairs, "Palestinian Refugees And Displaced Camps in Jordan," Department of Palestinian Affairs, accessed March 5, 2024, URL.https://dpa.gov.jo/En/List/Palestinian_Refugees_And_Displaced_Camps_in_Jordan.
[2] Maher Charif, "Nakba, Stages of a Forced Displacement ," Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestinian Question, accessed March 5, 2024, URL. https://www.palquest.org/en/highlight/160/nakba