"The first work we encounter, 'Obstallee,' is named after the street in Spandau she moved to as a child and centers a painted Khobiza plant, a leafy green mallow native to Palestine and known for its resilience in harsh conditions. On a nine piece wooden grid, the work combines poetry, photographs and painted figures fading into the landscape behind the Khobiza, the grooves in the wood mimicking rivers, valleys or sunsets."
"Dispersed throughout the work are golden spheres symbolizing the Jaffa orange-once the pride of Palestinian agriculture, later appropriated for global export and now reimagined as a symbol of rebellion and transiency. Combining painted Palestinian elements alongside artifacts of her family's journey to Germany, the work embodies the fragmentation of her concept of "home," one that feels warm, familiar, even surreal, but exists only as a patchwork of memories. The piece evokes a feeling of solidarity in commemorating a once shared and cherished reality."
Jamila Barakat assembles archival photographs, poetry and family letters into layered collages that evoke nostalgia, resilience and displacement. 'Obstallee' centers a painted Khobiza plant on a nine-piece wooden grid, integrating photographs, painted figures and carved grooves that suggest rivers, valleys and sunsets. Golden spheres referencing the Jaffa orange punctuate the work as symbols of agricultural pride, appropriation and transiency. Painted Palestinian motifs and artifacts from a migration to Germany render "home" as a fragmented, warm but surreal patchwork of memories. Roots are inscribed with English, German and Arabic phrases, and 'Amal (أمل)' is cast in thick concrete to embody hope's endurance.
Read at Berlin Art Link
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]