Mary Rachel Fanning | Portfolio
Matt, a former student of mine, has facilitated a stunning project in the West Bank called Picture Balata.
From the website:
“Outside the West Bank City of Nablus lies the Balata Refugee Camp. Home to almost 25,000 residents living on less than one square kilometer, Balata is the more densely populated Refugee Camp within the West Bank. [Read more…] about Matthew Cassel and Picture Balata
I know you’ve been waiting for this. Here is a video from Sama Alshaibi’s blog of our ride through Bethlehem.
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=MpZjgv5dRHs]
(I counted 6 santas….and yes, you busted me listening to Journey)
I had to temporarily remove “sensitive” material from the blog so I could get in and out of Tel Aviv. Will put everything back plus some more in the next few days.
I am swimming in contact sheets and audio clips.
But for now, know that Christmas does exist in Palestine. In fact, Jesus was born in the West Bank. Here are some skinny santas in Bethlehem. They jump on car hoods to give you candy. new site: http://openbethlehem.org
New 6+ project:
“Turning Our Tongues” is a project initiated by 6+ in collaboration with a group of 18 young women aged 16 -19 from the Deheisheh Refugee Camp, Palestine. It foregrounds different ways of journaling, of reflecting on daily life – from the very literal or informational, to the evocative and expressive. [Read more…] about Introducing Turning Our Tongues
Sometimes news from the Middle East hits me in strange places.
Today, many people kidnapped at a Baghdad research institute and Al-Jazeera is going worldwide with the United States’ favorite language, English.
Dr. Hameed Alshaibi (Sama’s father who was so gracious to us in Amman…and with my lost bag) was a professor in Baghdad. Then he moved to Jordan where he is still a professor, and lives with his lovely wife Intesar and their two young sons. All of Intesar’s and most of Dr. Alshaibi’s family still live in Iraq. They have lost many family members lately; you can see it in their faces. Intesar still finds ways to go back and visit. [Read more…] about Academics Missing in Baghdad and Zuzu Gets a Job
Today we will go to the Dead Sea.
I will think of Moses. Moses parted the Red Sea. But my friends can’t drive me to the Red Sea.
Zuzu will take half of us in his BMW convertible. Haneen and Mohammed will take half of us in the white rental car. It is only an hour and a half away. It will be a mini-vacation. We will wear swimsuits and tank-tops because it is acceptable there, because of all the foreigners. We will have delicous food, heineckens, and nargila with our friends. We will rub ourselves all over with Dead Sea mud. It will make our skin look nice. My swimsuit is in my lost suitcase, but I will borrow a tank top from Sama. I will think of Moses.
No one told me it would be so difficult to get there. And that even if we did, our odds were slim to none of actually getting to the shore.
Zuzu and Sama [Read more…] about Getting to the Dead Sea