Weed Control
Exhibition on Palestinian flora and colonialism. 1 September - 1 December 2020, A.M. Qattan Foundation, Ramallah, with the participation of 33 artists. Curator: Yazid Anani
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The Vicia seed. 2020
Installation
50 cm width x 70 cm depth x 190 cm height
Plastic crates
When I researched the vetch seed, I found that the villagers are capable of identifying it. I asked around and found out that those who raise livestock and poultry plant it. One such person said that he used to plant “bakia”—as he called it in the local dialect—with his father when they raised cattle and poultry because it is a natural animal feed that promotes both the lactation and the health of the animal while improving the meat. He said, “we no longer plant vetches and no one plants them anymore,” adding that people these days plant “structures,” meaning buildings and housing development projects.
I found in the meaning of the housing projects made of concrete and stone to be analogous with bakia (which means “staying” in Arabic). It seemed as if the structures took their descriptions from the seed—that they were planted in the land to stay and that the structures have taken over the wilderness and soil. In other words, the British Archive classifications have built a model that starts with neutralising wild plants and biodiversity in nature, while on the Palestinian side, we have complemented the role of destroying the ‘wilderness’, planting it with housing projects, constructing buildings that largely resemble the crates that poultry shops display at their doors.
Hence, I chose to display these crates on top of each other in the same manner as we see them in front of the poultry shops. I will also display them covered with glittery material, since they constitute buildings that most residents dream of owning, especially that these structures reflect, in my opinion, narrow-mindedness.
© Photo, text: Artist & A. M. Qattan Foundation
Exhibition on Palestinian flora and colonialism. 1 September - 1 December 2020, A.M. Qattan Foundation, Ramallah, with the participation of 33 artists. Curator: Yazid Anani