Al-Jisr/ The Bridge
A bilingual literary text and visual collage that captures my experiences crossing the Palestinian-Jordanian border between 2004 and 2010s. Featuring both Arabic and English text, the project uses fragmented writing to revisit childhood memories and reveal unresolved visual scenes from the border controls of Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The visual collage complements this narrative by juxtaposing archival travel documents with colorful ink drawings. The artist collaborated with a Palestinian four-year-old young artist living in the U.S. on creating a series of drawings over travel documents.
The project explores the forced clash between childhood and political borders. This piece draws inspiration from the autobiographical writings of Palestinian authors like Hussein Albarghouthi and Murid Albarghouthi. Their works offer a profound exploration of the multifaceted nature of the Palestinian identity, blending collective insights with unique individual experiences. This approach allows for a shared understanding while providing a deeply personal perspective on the human soul. Humans are an accumulation of their live events. Borders are an essential component of the lives of Palestinians, whether in the borders of historic Palestine or the diaspora.
