JUST SCROLL
My work focuses on the mediated information concerning the Gaza genocide. It contrasts US media articles with Instagram posts, one of the primary applications used as a news portal. Social media also manipulates the news, removing posts, content and comments deemed unfit for public consumption. The posts represented on Just Scroll are from photojournalists on the ground in Gaza. The newspaper articles are selected from those biased towards the US agenda. The viewer is presented with a condensed form of news via a traditional and Instagram ‘scroll’.
WRAPPED
Symbols of Palestinian resistance are adopted by people worldwide. One of these is the checkered square cotton head-scarf called the keffiyeh. It gained popularity in the 1930s during the revolt against British colonialism. Keffiyeh patterns include olive trees (resilience) and fishnets (the Palestinian connection to the sea) and trade routes (signifying trade and prosperity). Wrapped demonstrates the different ways of wearing the keffiyeh by different cultures around the world.
JUST SCROLL
My work focuses on this mediated information concerning the Gaza genocide. It contrasts US media articles with Instagram posts, one of the primary applications used as a news portal (Osman 2022:369). Osman states that “US news-based media represents wars abroad with the state’s securitized gaze and lens while simultaneously censoring frontline and on-the-ground reporting of wars abroad” (2022: 374). This evidences that even social media manipulates the news, removing posts, content and comments deemed unfit for public consumption.The posts represented on Just Scroll (Figure 5) are from photojournalists on the ground in Gaza. The newspaper articles are selected from those biased towards the US agenda. The viewer is presented with a condensed form of news via a traditional and Instagram ‘scroll’.
CUT MY GAZA
Cut my Gaza is a map of Gaza with its streets incised by a scalpel. This work is a deviation from a symbol of Palestinian resistance, the historical Palestinian map. The historic map represents the geographical area of Palestine prior to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. Israel’s military captured 78% of historical Palestine and the remaining 22% is now divided into the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip. Gaza is the focus of intense bombing where devastating infrastructural damage accompanies the loss of human life. This map is a form of preservation of Gaza before its destruction.
COPY THE BLAST
Copy the Blast is a series of small acrylic paintings, reminding one that even paintings are mediated by the artist. These photographs are sourced from various photojournalists and websites reporting on the war. Each one was painted, after small details were removed or altered, enhancing their veracity. The slight alterations nevertheless direct the viewer’s observation.
PASTE RESISTANCE
In Paste Resistance, the keffiyeh is not only used as a symbol of resistance, but in the background to highlight social media censorship. The keffiyeh are overlaid with Instagram symbols indicating removal of content and comments. By editing the language used by Instagram from ‘removed’ to ‘resist’, I have transformed this mode of censorship into a form of resistance.
