DOWNLOADABLE EXHIBIT
Why We Record: Defying Fragmentation and Erasure in Palestine is a joint exhibit curated by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and Visualizing Palestine (VP). The exhibit includes a collection of VP's visuals, AFSC's photos, and excerpts from published stories on the themes of fragmentation, displacement, return, and future visioning.
ABOUT THE EXHIBIT
On October 25, 2023, Egyptian-Canadian journalist and writer Omar El Akkad wrote about the growing genocide in Gaza: “One day, when it's safe, when there's no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it's too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this.”
The truth of this statement, proven countless times throughout history, is only possible because of those who "record for future generations to tell them this is what truly happened," as Asmaa Abu Mezeid writes in Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire. Recording the injustices that Palestinians face daily exposes, for the world to see, the crimes of the Israeli military, who act with unconditional support from the U.S. government and other complicit governments and actors. While the act of recording the truth has increasingly made Palestinian journalists and storytellers targets, they refuse to be silenced.
VP and AFSC believe that these injustices will end, and that people of conscience all over the world have a role to play in realizing Palestinian liberation. We share a deep respect for the storytellers who narrate the painful realities of Palestinians who cannot yet live in dignity and freedom, and we invite visitors to this exhibit to witness the truths of the past, the heartbreak of the present, and the possibilities of the future.
The exhibit is divided into three themes of the Palestinian experience:
- Displacement
- Fragmentation
- Return and future visioning
As the viewer looks at photographs from Palestine right after the Nakba, or “catastrophe” of 1948, and learns, or relearns, from VP’s visuals the truths of Israeli military occupation, settler colonialism, apartheid, and genocide, we invite them to consider what they might do to hold accountable those responsible before it is too late. As VP mentions in its book, Visualizing Palestine: A Chronicle of Colonialism and the Struggle for Liberation, we are working towards a world in which “these visuals are obsolete, not because they need to be updated with even more dire figures, but because the fundamental conditions of oppression have given way to justice.”
Format of the Exhibit
The exhibit is curated in three different sizes to accommodate different locations, budgets, and capacities of local hosts. All versions of the exhibit will cover three themes: 1) displacement, 2) forced fragmentation, and 3) return and future visioning.
The exhibit we’ve curated can be downloaded for free by exhibitors based on space availability, budget, and capacity:
Full Archive
Pack of 38 visuals, photos, and stories on the themes of displacement, fragmentation, and return and future visioning
Printing cost: approximately $1,500
Selected Works
Pack of 25 visuals, photos, and stories on the themes of displacement, fragmentation, and return and future visioning
Printing cost: approximately $1,000
Essentials
Pack of 15 visuals, photos, and stories on the themes of displacement, fragmentation, and return and future visioning
Printing cost: approximately $600
If you are interested in printing and displaying the exhibit locally, please fill out the “Host the Exhibit" form.
SAMPLE EXHIBIT MATERIAL
DISPLACEMENT
These visuals and images document Israel’s ongoing expulsion and erasure of Palestinians from their land. Often referred to as the ongoing Nakba, or catastrophe in English, Palestinians have endured displacement for generations.
FRAGMENTATION
Displacement is compounded by Israel’s deliberate attempts to separate Palestinians from each other, from their land, and from the world. Despite codifying apartheid and enacting a settler colonial state, Palestinians persist and navigate Israel’s systems of oppression to overcome fragmentation.
RETURN & FUTURE VISIONING
The right of return is central to the Palestinian struggle for liberation. We must imagine and dream about what is possible so Palestinians can exercise their right to return, and live in a world free from oppression and settler colonialism.
Hosting the Exhibit
Once you fill out the ‘Host the Exhibit' form, you will be given access to a Google Drive that includes:
Usage Guidelines
A lot of thought has gone into curating this joint VP-AFSC exhibit.
While you can choose from one of three exhibits we have curated, as an organizer, we will ask you to agree to represent all three themes of displacement, fragmentation, and return in your exhibit, as they are grouped in each pack. You agree to use the title, “Why We Record: Defying Fragmentation and Erasure in Palestine,” as well as all gallery materials and descriptions of the project. All materials are protected under a Creative Commons License. This means the materials cannot be used for commercial purposes, cannot be modified, and should be credited to VP and AFSC.
FAQ
testimonials
"In a moment when Palestinians face the paradox of hypervisibility and erasure, this exhibit cements the undeniable facts and disrupts colonial narratives to declare: we are here, through occupation until liberation. It’s a must-witness for Palestinians and allies alike."
Program Director, DC Palestinian Film & Arts Festival
United States
Photo Gallery
Photos of our Essentials pack at DCPFAF taken by Alaa Saadi. Photo courtesy of the DC Palestinian Film & Arts Festival.
Photos of our Essentials pack at DCPFAF taken by Alaa Saadi. Photo courtesy of the DC Palestinian Film & Arts Festival.
Photos from "Why We Record" Exhibit Opening at the Palestinian Museum, Washington D.C.
Photos from "Why We Record" Exhibit Opening at the Palestinian Museum, Washington D.C.
Photos from "Why We Record" Exhibit Opening at the Palestinian Museum, Washington D.C.
Interactive Map
Coming soon
About American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
The American Friends Service Committee works for a just, peaceful, and sustainable world free of violence, inequality, and oppression. We join with people and partners worldwide to meet urgent community needs, challenge injustice, and build peace. This work is guided by Quaker values and principles that support the implementation of international human rights and humanitarian law, including the implementation of refugees' right of return. AFSC supports equality, justice, and freedom for all.
About Visualizing Palestine (VP)
Visualizing Palestine uses data and research to visually communicate Palestinian experiences to provoke narrative change. We envision a liberated future for Palestinians in a world free from oppression. VP has produced over 300 research-based visual communication resources over the last 13 years, serving the Palestinian liberation movement, educators, journalists, and others with accurate, compelling, accessible, and visually stimulating information about Palestinian reality and narratives.