Keep it in, Belong, Assimilate: Palestinian heritage and mixed identities in Germany
Shown at UNESCO RILA (Unesco Chair In Refugee Integration Through Languages and the Arts) Spring School 2024: The Arts of Integrating (Glasgow 2024)
The installation delves into the complexities, anxieties, and struggles of assimilation and belonging faced by Germans of Palestinian origin. Through photographs, news snippets, textiles, and memories collected during five months of the Gaza war, the artist portrays the environment in which individuals of mixed heritage navigate growing anti-Arab racism and the quest for belonging in their lifelong communities.
A central element, the tiger fleece blanket, commonly found in Arab households in Germany, serves as a personal archive and public canvas. It encapsulates the dual identity of feeling both German and somewhat Other, holding recurring memories that reconnect the artist with her heritage. The poppy flower and rose, dominant symbols throughout the installation, are commonly known to represent the suffering, resistance, and hope of the Palestinian people and the connection to their land. This motif, often seen in diaspora households' fleece blankets, Kitsch objects, and comfort items, connects the personal and collective experiences of the Palestinian diaspora.
Core themes of learning and memorizing are intricately tied to crafts and heritage preservation. The artist's struggles with learning colloquial Arabic and sewing reflect a journey of reconnecting with her roots, where not feeling “good enough” becomes part of the process. The influence of the artist’s stepmother, a tailor, and her mother further captures this intersection of language, craft, and identity.
The audio essay explores the political landscape of navigating Palestinian identities and Otherness in Germany. It aims to capture the feelings of anger, confusion, and frustration experienced by the artist as a German of Palestinian heritage who still feels not German enough. The voices featured include German-Nigerian journalist Malcolm Oahnwe who is of Palestinian descent, the artist's own voice expressing the embarrassment of being a slow reader in Arabic and the struggle to communicate, as well as the voices of the artist’s father and mother.
The sound collage also features soundwalks and bird recordings from Gifhorn, a small town in Lower Saxony, where the artist, who grew up in Berlin, and her family have been returning for 30 years to escape city life. These recordings aim to capture the artist’s effort to reconnect with nature and her own identity. Walks with her mother, seeking directions, and reflecting of encounters with German neighbours in rural parts of the country, highlights her awareness of her status as non-German. Recurring motifs like red and golden threads represent the continuity of themes in the artist’s life, weaving together references to homesickness, recipes, and a list of things to remember to maintain her cultural connection.
