from my exhibit "Siadj Saber" (prickly pear hedge) shown at the Jerusalem Theater, Fall 2017

Siadj Saber*

A hedge of thorns, that is what remains of uprooted Palestinian villages – it holds on to the earth tenaciously, refusing to be eradicated. In this torn land, the prickly pear cactus, opunta ficus indica, carries weighty, though very different, symbolic meanings for two peoples, and plays a prominent role in both Israeli and Palestinian art. Yet it is, ironically, itself a displaced plant, originating in Mexico and the Caribbean, closer to where my own roots are.

In this series, I chose to photograph the sabra hedge from very close up, penetrating into its inner landscape, turning my gaze on its scars, wrinkles and blemishes and uncovering their esthetic power and sensuous associations - in a world where the tyranny of beauty and false perfection reign. 

*Arabic: prickly pear hedge