In the second installment stemming from architect and researcher Malkit Shoshan’s project ‘Border Ecologies on the Gaza Strip’, a Palestinian family shares its story of land, labour and loss.
In the second instalment stemming from architect and researcher Malkit Shoshan’s project ‘Border Ecologies on the Gaza Strip’, a Palestinian family shares its story of land, labour and loss. (read Part One here) Right now, Palestinians are returning to an unrecognisable and destroyed land — their land. Through the testimony of Shoshan’s interlocutor, Amir Qudaih, we continue to stand in solidarity with those suffering the impacts of genocidal violence and extreme machinations of spatial politics.
Introduction by Malkit Shoshan
For the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale, FAST (Foundation for Achieving Seamless Territory) collected more than a dozen oral histories of daily life on the farm through ongoing conversations with Amir Qudaih and his family. Linking mundane objects, such as watermelon, sardines, sand, and sediment, to bureaucratic protocols, Israeli-imposed restrictions, and continued acts of violence, these stories attest to the Khuza’a community’s continual engagement in collective acts of survival, resistance, mutual aid, and solidarity.
One such story, Wheat and Weddings, is centred around wheat, an indispensable crop and staple food in Palestine, and on two small wheat fields used to host marriage ceremonies. In Gaza, late spring marks both a celebration of the end of the wheat harvest and the beginning of the wedding season. Unlike other farmland in the area, on which farmers rotate crops year-round, these two fields are used only for monocropping to allow space for communal gatherings and wedding parties in the summer. The installation was centred on a dining table and a custom-made tablecloth that featured interwoven stories of daily life on the farm. Two projections juxtapose short videos of this farm life with footage of the perpetual violence the villagers face, all of which was captured on mobile phones by Khuza’a’s farmers. The exhibition also included photographs, short stories and testimonies, and a website that makes the exhibition material accessible online for those who cannot visit in person, in particular the Qudaih family.
Despite the ongoing violence that our families and friends are experiencing, our conversations continue to bring us hope and a sense of humanity. Amid sharing our devastation, we also share stories of everyday life. We exchange personal anecdotes, favorite foods, and recipes, laughing and discussing our families and love — particularly Amir’s wedding plans in Cairo, set in a venue overlooking the pyramids, which was initially scheduled for February 2024. I shared these plans with my teenage kids, who enthusiastically expressed their desire to join, noting that Travis Scott was having a concert there. On October 6th, Amir and I were supposed to meet at my apartment in Brooklyn. Amir wanted to introduce me to his fiancée in person, someone I had already heard many stories about and was eager to meet. I prepared a pie and got everything ready to host them, but traffic delays kept pushing our meeting. Eventually, we decided to postpone it to the next morning, Saturday, October 7th.
“The unprecedented numbers of bombs dropped on Gaza make it incredibly challenging to imagine what it means to “heal” the land.”
Read more: https://www.koozarch.com/interviews/a-farm-in-gaza-part-two
