Jude Abu Zaineh

لو يذكر الزيتون غارسهُ، لصار الزيت دمعاً  | If the Olive Trees knew the hands that planted them…Their Oil would become Tears
Jude Abu Zaineh
Vinyl collage
34’ x 16’
2022
(after Mahmoud Darwish)


If the Olive Trees knew the hands that planted them…Their Oil would become Tears | لو يذكر الزيتون غارسهُ، لصار الزيت دمعاً is a vinyl mural that collages historic photographs of sites across Palestine with images of Abu Zaineh’s hands holding stems of olive leaves. The port of Jaffa is prominently featured in the mural, the hometown of the artist’s mother. Repeating imagery of oranges, olives and grape leaves gesture towards the agriculture of Palestine, and the potential of these seeds to germinate, disperse, and thrive in new terrains. Images of doorways symbolize the ongoing transitory experience of moving between spaces, journeys of multiple migrations that shape the lives of diasporic communities.

Installation shot from solo exhibition, In the Presence of Absence, curated by Noor Ale; Art Windsor-Essex. Photos by Michael Valiquette, Frank Piccolo.