TALK

video – 08: 42 min – 2020

In the family archive, there are text messages written in a mix of formal Arabic and colloquial dialects. These messages disregard traditional narrative rules, shifting between topics and blending them smoothly or violently, depending on the writer’s emotions. The writing style serves as a statement on the current situation. These letters discuss economic, political, and social conditions, and they are filled with emotions, gossip, and family secrets that traveled between the post offices of Jerusalem, Palestine, and those in Amman, Bern, Munich, and back. The video is a visual translation of these family texts, forming a “family portrait”.