May 7-16, 2026
 

Being in Midair

Food and produce are central to the making of community. In a migrating world, the memory and longing for the taste of another land often become one of the deepest searches. I come from a North African family: looking for fresh capers, cherishing artichokes, collecting bitter lemons from ornamental plants, fighting over the bitter part of the lettuce, and making sure to bring back preserved lemons from France.
 

In my thesis project I tried to examine the idea of losing balance, of moving away while war was happening and the place of food, fruits and vegetables as symbols of fullness and decay. I researched the idea of the fall as a moment of divine punishment or moral failure, but also as a way to describe the ordinary processes of change, decay, and renewal.