Selma Feriani gallery is pleased to welcome back Rula Halawani for the third time with Traces. Following on from her most recent exhibition with us in London, Presence and Impressions, this collection of photographs is a continuation of her previous series of the same title. The Traces series from 2007 portrayed fear, dissolution and imprisonment through the use of images of the ground surrounding the Separation wall cutting through Palestine. This new series however, is almost an antithesis of the work it follows, breathing light, warmth and hope into a dark and desperate situation through the imagery of various house-hold items.

Coming from a news photography background, Rula’s investigatory nature led her into discussions with many Palestinian refugees about the villages they lived in before they fled their homes in 1948, and soon discovered that the interiors of their new dwellings kept alive the memories from their old life. Simple house-hold objects, gifts from friends or deceased family members, photographs and official documents make up this web of a life and time that had to be abandoned, and Rula displays the images in a carefully arranged and coordinated series of eight complete works.

Items are used as heroic symbols, like the basket of eggs in Raw Eggs and Bread, symbolising the bravery and courage of Nawal Nakhleh’s mother, who snuck back into her home to take back the basic food they needed to survive after her and her husband had been forced to flee at night. Another powerful motif and symbol is the key. Firstly in Framed Keys and Train Whistle, where the items described in the title, given as a gift from Nabil Youssef Farha’s father before he died, become symbolic due to the influential message passed on alongside the present to pass on to future generations, “these are the symbols of our right to return…make them understand that this refugee camp is not their home”. The key image is also used again in A Key, where the object shown is the original and last remaining key to the family’s old home, to be passed down so they never forget where they came from.

‘I visually explored and documented the homes of these refugee families, I asked people why they chose to bring these particular items, and what symbolic meaning they held for them. Some told me unique stories, which I later asked a calligrapher to transcribe by hand.’ – Rula Halawani.

Each piece is presented alongside a brief biography of the owner of the pictured items and a short story about a particular object, transcribed into Arabic and presented on the right-hand side of each work.

The pieces vary in theme, but what Rula succeeds in is highlighting the personal attachment and meanings of numerous obscure objects; illustrating the importance of menial things in difficult times. Each piece evokes the same essential message, that every object shown should be used to motivate and stimulate future generations to never forget their roots, and to one day return to the towns of their ancestors.

The objects are a constant, heart-warming reminder of a life remembered and missed. What may appear unimportant to you or I actually carries with it a personal story - of displacement and heartache, yes, but also pride and hope.

Rula Halawani originally trained as a photojournalist and worked as a freelance photographer. Her subjective involvement in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict led her to abandon this work, questioning its authenticity and value in the media domain and turned her attention to the visual arts and has worked as a professional artist since 1988. Halawani exhibited at prominent arts and culture institutions internationally,
including the Arab World Institute in Paris and the Khalid Shoman Foundation in Jordan. Her works exist within major art collections, such as the British Museum and the V&A Museum’s permanent collection. Halawani is currently the founder and director of the photography unit in Birzeit University. She lives and works in East Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives neighbourhood.