Areej Ashhab أريج الأشهب

Join us on Wednesday 27 May for 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴: a film screening and talk programme with Areej Ashhab, Ola Hassanain and Dina Mimi! During the programme we will open a conversation about the artefact as witness, the erasure of history through excavation, the objects and topologies of repair, and the relationship of people to their material environments. Areej Ashhab will be sharing excerpts from her film 𝘓𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, and connecting them to her new installation, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘴, commissioned for this exhibition. We will also be screening Dina Mimi’s short film 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘦𝘦, which narrates the story of Ram(z)i, a lonely working class man who died twice. Additionally, Ola Hassanain will present her spatial installation for the exhibition, 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘗𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴, and contextualise it within her ongoing project 𝘛𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘒𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵. The films and talk will be followed by a conversation between Ola, Dina, and Areej, moderated by Margarita Osipian—interweaving their individual works and the stories that unfold through them. Ticket: €7,50 Student and solidarity ticket: €5 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴: 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘮 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘦 📍 W139 📆 27 May 2026 🕐 20:00 - 22:00 Visual identity by @farahfayyad after afterlives is part of 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘳, 𝘴𝘰𝘪𝘭, a group show initiated by @mariakhatchadourian and on view at W139 until 12 July 2026. More information on our website!

⁨ ⁨ ⁨ ⁨ ⁨ ⁨ ⁨ ⁨ ‎حيّة وحوت في البيردوت ويش دواها شيخ اجاها سحب الدبوس من الكربوس وتوحاها وتوحاها يوبي يوبي يوبيك يوبي واحنا حضرنا كنا غيوبي ‎من افتتاح معرض “طحين، ماء، تراب” في أمستردام الشهر الماضي، عرض أدائي مستوحى من أهازيج عمال البناء الفلسطينيين أثناء عملية حرق الحجر الجيري لإنتاج “الشيد”، كما وثقها المؤرخ عمر حمدان. قمت بتلحين هذه الأغنية بالتعاون مع الفنانين إبراهيم ومحمد أبو لبن، وتقديمها برفقة عبدو زين الدين في سياق عملي “الأرض تصون ما تخبؤه”، احتفاءً بالجهد الجماعي والعمل اليدوي الحاضر في المعرض. A performance from the opening of “flour, water, soil” at ‪‪‪‪‪‪‪‪@w139amsterdam ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ last month This chant is inspired by the oral histories of Palestinian lime-burners, who would sing to maintain the rhythm of their grueling labor. In the context of this exhibition, this song marks the collective effort and shared labor of Maria, Saja, Anna, Dana, Andre, Raquel, and many other hands 🤍✨ Composed in collaboration with Ibrahim Abu Laban and Mohammad Abu Laban, and accompanied by Abdo Zin Eldin, the performance documents the material transformations of “shid” (lime) present in my installation “The Ground Keeps W‪hat it Hold” Documentati‪@elodierenout ‪@cglr_ksgl ‬ksgl‬ksgl⁩⁩

Artista și cercetătoarea palestiniană Areej Ashhab pornește de la plante, insecte, pietre sau pământ, ca să vorbească despre relația oamenilor cu spațiul, istoria și memoria. Între drumuri Palestina-Olanda, unde trăiește și lucrează, ne-am întâlnit la București, unde a fost invitată de Tranzit, colectivul care a creat Stația Experimentală de Cercetare pentru Artă și Viață. Artista a creat la Stație un steag simbolic, pentru care a folosit imaginea unor plante din ținuturile palestiniene natale și pământ din câmpul arid de la Siliștea Snagovului. Vezi întreg interviul pe canalul nostru de YouTube sau la linkul din bio. 🎥 Video: @maraogl 💌 Mulțumiri: @tranzit.ro.bucuresti și @statia.de.cercetare

زكريا Zakariya, my mom’s village, depopulated in 1948 And her grandparents house, still standing today as one of the first houses built from concrete

Glimpses of joy, collaboration and creation that kept me going this year 🤍🌿🌾 1. Al-Fakhouri pottery factory / Al-Khalil 2. Final performance for A Hand of Fire and Stone / @wonder.cabinet Bethlehem 3. Screen prints for @alwahat.collective fabric installation / @jve.printingpublishing Maastricht 4. Taboun bread-making for msakhan / @janvaneyckacademie 5. Reading of Stinking Tree book 🌿/ @laraposapoblesec Barcelona 6. Yousef singing for zaatar & sage tea 🌞 / @sakiyaorg Ein Qiniya 7. One of many teas at @hussein.shikha studio this year/ @janvaneyckacademie 8. MST Palestine caps / São Paulo, Brazil 9. Improvised song after shade building workshop from cactus fibres with @alwahat.collective 🌵 / @omsleimanfarm Bil’in 10. Installing “recognition is subjection” print with @cglr_ksgl / @janvaneyckacademie 11. Cochineal ink on cactus paper with @alwahat.collective / @jve.printingpublishing 12. @alwahat.collective with Suha Alqam next to embroidered, cochineal-dyed flag / Ein Qiniya

Our essay “Earthen Inheritances” is out on e-flux architecture as part of Palestinian Repairs series, a collaborative project developed by Emilio Distretti and e-flux architecture, with the support of RIWAQ - Centre for Architectural Conservation @riwaq_palestine , the Birzeit University Museum @bzu.museum , and the School of Architecture at the Royal College of Art in London @rca_soa . This essay examines al-khabiyeh; an earthern grain storage unit central to agrarian life in Palestine, as a site of continuous destruction and repair. By following the processes of its making and remaking, the essay reflects on the tension between the object’s ephemeral materiality and its historical role as a tool for sustenance and future preparedness. Through an exploration of clay’s restorative qualities, we consider how the rebuilding of khawabi today operates as a forward-looking gesture: one that sustains intergenerational knowledge beyond the object itself, while resisting ongoing settler-colonial erasure in Palestine. We’re very grateful for @sakiyaorg for hosting our khabiyeh-building workshop last year, and continuing its life with a group of participants who rebuilt it after its destruction by Israeli settlers, as part of “Of Mud and Iron” exhibition at Khalil Sakakini Center in Ramallah, curated by @ljudeh 🌾 Many thanks to Nick Axel @alucidwake and Emilio Distretti for their thoughtful edits 🙏🏽

⁨ ⁨ ⁨ السنة الماضية رحت مع خليل غرة نشوف أفران الشيد المتبقية في قرية مجدل يابا المهجرة. على الطريق، بكل مكان كانت طالعة هاي الزهرة البيضا الطويلة، المعروفة شعبياً باسم “مبشر الشتا”، أو “عود الري”. خليل شرح لي عن أهميّتها في المواسم الشعبية، وبالأخص عند انتظار الفلاحين للمطر 🌾 في الفترة الأخيرة غصت أكثر في تقاليد الاستسقاء في فلسطين، وجسّدتها في تصميم علم بستوحي رموزه من هاي النباتات والإشارات الموسمية اللي بتبشّر بقدوم المطر أو حلوله. العلم مطبوع باستخدام الشاشات الحريرية: من جهة بحبر أبيض، ومن جهة بحبر مصنوع من التراب. القماشة مصبوغة بالتراب اللي بيحلّ مع المطر: بتختفي رسالة من وجه، وبتبيّن رسالة تانية من الجهة الخلفية Last year, I went with researcher Khalil Ghara to see the remaining lime kilns in Majdal Yaba, destroyed in 1948 Nakba. Along the road, this tall white flower (squill) grew everywhere, known locally as “the predictor of rain.” Khalil explained its significance in seasonal folk practices, especially for farmers waiting for the first rain 🌾 Lately, I’ve been diving into rain-making rituals and traditions, drawing from them for a flag design that carries symbols from these plants and seasonal signs that call the rain and signal it’s arrival. The flag is screen-printed with white ink on one side, and soil-based pigment on the other. The fabric is dyed with earth, interacting with the elements, and withering with rain: a message fades on one side, while another one emerges on the back. Commissioned by @statia.de.cercetare & @tranzit.ro.bucuresti , and printed with the help‪‪ of @futurematerialsbank ‬& @jve.printingpublishing

راحت أم الغيث تجيب الأمطار، ما إجت إلا الزرع طول الأشجار In the past weeks I’ve been working on a flag design for The Experimental Station for Research on Art & Life @statia.de.cercetare near Bucharest, Romania, to be raised today, on the International Day for Solidarity with the Palestinian People. A simple gesture from Palestine to a desertifying land in Romania, The Rain-making Flag (راية الاستسقاء) draws from traditional rituals, where Palestinians turned to seasonal plants, songs, and small acts to invite rain. It didn’t take long for the call to be answered 🌧️ Many thanks to @tranzit.ro.bucuresti collective for the beautiful invitation 🤍 Printed in collaboration with @jve.printingpublishing

This year, with @alwahat.collective , we explored a new chapter of our project Wild Hedges during our residencies at @janvaneyckacademie and @sakiyaorg 🌵 Over the past months, we followed the intertwined ecologies and mythologies of the prickly pear cactus and the sacred qatlab tree in Ein Qiniya, Palestine—two sites connected through the colour red: the cochineal insect living on the cactus, and the deep red bark of the qatlab tree. Linking Palestinian and Mesoamerican myths, the project reflects on colonial entanglements, invasive ecologies, and practices of repair. Through cochineal ink, dyed textiles, embroidered processional flags and film, it explores gestures of collective care rooted in the land—where human, plant, and insect labour converge, weaving stories of displacement, myth, and belonging amid escalating Israeli settler violence and dispossession. 1.Suha Alqam from Ein Qiniya hanging a processional flag representing a cactus hedge, printed collectively with 20 participants at Sakiya using cochineal harvested from dyeing cacti 2. Suha embroidering cochineal-dyed threads on a processional flag made for the qatlab tree 3. The cactus flag hung at the hedge 4. A procession from the hedge to the qatlab tree at Sakiya last May 5. Our fabric installation at Open Studios @janvaneyckacademie , bringing together the two flags with images of the two sites—the cactus and the tree. Fabrics were dyed and images taken by @gdemczuk and printed in collaboration with @jve.printingpublishing 6. A shot from our two-channel installation “Red Threads” at Open Studios 7. Close-up of the fabric installation 8. A group photo with participants and villagers from Ein Qiniya around the two flags 🤍 The photos were taken by @gdemczuk , @ahmadtalath and Romy Finke

Working closely with sabr fibers these past months as part of @alwahat.collective 🌵 bringing dead cacti to life, stitching them into canopies, and beating them into paper #3 & #4 photos from a shade roof workshop at @omsleimanfarm in collaboration with @sakiyaorg last May #5 Mixtec myth printed with Oaxacan cochineal ink on paper made with cactus fibers from Palestine, as part of Al-Wah’at’s open studio at @janvaneyckacademie

صلّوا ع النبي الهادي أداء غنائي قدمته بالتعاون مع أولاد خالتي الفنانين إبراهيم أبو لبن ومحمد أبو لبن في بداية السنة، ضمن معرضي البحثي عن مادة الشيد في مجلس العجب، بيت لحم. عثرتُ على الكلمات في كتاب العمارة الشعبية في فلسطين للمؤرخ عمر حمدان، إصدار مؤسسة إنعاش الأسرة، وأسرني وقعها. اجتمعنا سويًا—أنا وإبراهيم ومحمد—وألبسنا الكلمات لحنًا جديدًا من وحي خيالنا. تحمل هذه الكلمات تبجيلًا لدور معلّم البناء في تشييد فرن الشيد. يوثق الفيديو تجربتي في بناء واشعال فرن شيد في مجلس العجب بالتعاون مع البناء أبو فراس. تصوير دانا در ونسرين طحان 🤍 Pray for the Guiding Prophet A vocal performance I presented in collaboration with my cousins, artists Ibrahim Abu Laban @ibrahim.abulaban and Mohammad Abu Laban @mohammedsabulaban , earlier this year, as part of my research exhibition on the material of lime at @wonder.cabinet in Bethlehem. I came across the lyrics in the book Traditional Architecture in Palestine by historian Omar Hamdan, published by the In’ash Al-Usra Foundation, and was captivated by their rhythm. The three of us—myself, Ibrahim, and Mohammad—came together and wrapped the words in a new melody drawn from our imagination. These lyrics express deep reverence for the role of the master builder in constructing the lime kiln. The video documents my experience building and firing a lime kiln at the Wonder Cabinet, in collaboration with the builder Abu Firas. Footage taken by @danadurr and @nisreentahhan

Wednesday May 21 at Khalil Sakakini, Ramallah A Book Launch and Conversation with Yara Dowani @omsleimanfarm and Amanny Ahmad @lalph_rauren (Event in English) Areej Ashhab and Ailo Ribas will introduce their collaborative book The fast-growing stinking escaped waste-loving wall-breaching self-cloning other-than-natural no-man’s tree. This collaboration stemmed from their time spent together in Palestine in August 2022 and their encounters with Ailanthus altissima (tree of heaven, tree of hell). An “invasive” species introduced to Palestine during the 1960s and 1980s as part of the Jewish National Fund (JNF) greenwashing, the tree was a starting point for their reflections on land and persistence amidst settler colonialism. Yara Dowani, a farmer from Om Sleiman Farm, will join us to reflect on how “invasive” species can be thought of as catalysts for regeneration especially through her interest and research in syntropic farming. Amanny Ahmad, an artist, cook, land worker, and folk herbalist, will share her thoughts on how relationships between humans & non-humans, botany & plant use can teach us about survival. [Arabic in first comment]