Home and Exile - (2008-15)
The collective Palestinian experience since the late 1940's has been one of displacement and exile. Today (2016) there are estimated to be at least 7.4 million Palestinian refugees and IDP's (internally displaced persons). This figure represents approximately two-thirds of the collective yet geographically fragmented Palestinian people.
This experience began en-masse between 1947-49 (during the 'Nakba' – or catastrophe) when an estimated 750,000 Palestinians were displaced from their homes and lands as the State of Israel was being created. The story however does not end there, or with the approximately 1.5 million Palestinians who today remain languishing in refugee camps.
In a story that continues to write new chapters to this day, Palestinian displacement has been an ongoing process in every decade since the Nakba. Today, many thousands sit waiting with demolition, eviction or land confiscation orders, with the dark realisation that time is short, yet unknown.
The moment of drama in which displacement is enforced, which on occasion attracts media attention, is not the focus of this work. Rather, these images explore the human experience in the time before or after – the shadow of looming displacement and the resilience to live under it; the pain of memory; the space left behind.
Exhibitions:
P21 Gallery, London - 2014