Speakers: Sherene Seikaly, Hosni Mlitat, Anas Ibrahim
In dialogue with Majd Abu Amer
Thursday, May 26th | 19:00-20:30.
Location: Zoom
Language: Arabic

The symposium will explore the political and socioeconomic structures before the Nakba using the metaphor of the orange.

It will provide a historical reading of the social structures built on the pre-Nakba orange economy, critically exploring the socioeconomic context. Artistic depictions of oranges will also be considered, tackling questions such as: have oranges become an identity marker for Palestinians? If so, how? Did oranges hold any cultural significance preceding the year 1948? How has the Nakba impacted the orange as a symbol?

Furthermore, a historical reading of the transformations to the socio-economic structures following the Nakba will be presented, particularly focusing on the fragmentation of said structures following the Zionist takeover and ethnic cleansing during the Nakba (especially the period of martial law in ’48 Palestine). Accordingly, the symposium offers a look at how these structures were transformed, either into other economic processes within or without their indigenous origin, or, into topics of nostalgia enacted through representations/recollections of the past in artistic and cultural practice