Saja Abuammer
Saja Abuammer
Heirloom 2067
If a homeland takes the shape of the time one has spent in it, what shape does it take for those estranged from it? For Palestinians in diaspora, visions of the homeland are often constructed by means of ancestral memory; oral storytelling, photography, and heirlooms serve as vital vessels of knowledge that allow the estranged a chance at perceiving its shape. I am enveloped in memories gifted to me from the women who raised me—from mother to grandmother to great-grandmother. Where does the diasporic vision of Palestine fit amidst nostalgia for a romanticized homeland inaccessible and ravaged by Israeli occupation? Heirloom 2067 speculates visions of a Palestinian future through the chest panel of the traditional Palestinian dress (the Qabbah), whose cross-stitch motifs preserve the history of Palestinian land and culture . Composed of 8 unique motifs based on personal writings of Palestine set in the year 2067, Heirloom 2067 explores what the future of Palestine could hold, and allows my diasporic perspective a stake at imagining it. In a world where politicians openly express their visions of a Palestinian future, I seek to encourage others in the diaspora to reconnect to the homeland through their own projection, in a way that inspires tools to achieve liberated realities.
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