/
1
2
3
·
·
·
al-qalb yasmaa/the heart listens
2019
Cotton rag paper, dyes from casuarina and eucalyptus gathered on Darug land at Penrith Lakes and found papers. Images: Document Photography
Shown as part of 10 Degrees Hotter (curated by Kalanjay Dhir and Tian Zhang) 12 October - 23 November 2019 at Pari Parramatta, NSW
To listen is to know.
To know where I am.
To know who I am.
This work is part of a bigger practice of listening. A deep listening, with my heart, my intuition and my body. A listening that opens and receives, gathers, absorbs and illuminates.
qalbee yasmaa, my heart listens
I work with re-membering and reconnecting with cultural practices of my own ancestral homelands in the South West Asian & North African (SWANA) region. Working with practices that include listening to plants through my dreams and reading the residue in coffee cups has awakened ancestral knowledges my body still holds.
al-qalb yasmaa/the heart listens is the culmination of listening to the plants of this place. I recently worked with plants gathered on Darug land, from a site now known as Penrith Lakes at Castlereagh. The site includes a recently disused quarry, where 160 million tonnes of sand and gravel, deposited on the flood plains by the Nepean River over the centuries, was mined from the 1880’s until 2015.
The site’s weather station recently recorded the highest temperature in Sydney at 47.3 degrees Celsius.
I acknowledge that this work was made with plants gathered from the Darug Nation and pay my respects to Darug elders of the past, present and future. I gratefully acknowledge that this work was made with support from Darug Custodian Aboriginal Corporation, Dharug Ngurra Aboriginal Corporation and the Dharug Strategic Management Group.