a seasonal ritual

<sup>The work was developed through Art Evolution program by Goethe-Institut supported by German Federal Foreign Office

Different installaments of the work were exhibited or performed in:
◍ Galerie Tanit, “Togetherness” collective exhibition, June-Aug 2021
◍ Temporary Art Platform (TAP), “art, ecology and the commons”, Aug-Sept 2021
◍ Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, Frankfurt, Aug 2021
◍ Goethe-Institut Schwäbisch Hall, “Encounters”, Nov 2021
◍ FoodCulture days biennale, May 2023</sup>

Inspired by the local communities in rural areas in Lebanon,“a seasonal ritual” is an invitation to forage, cook and serve each other. The work weaves a collection of recipes and experiments around the culture of utilizing shrubs and serving food.

At the heart of foraging is a seasonal understanding of the natural world. Humans would follow what the land has to offer; a coevolution that takes place through human activities. The gatherers would identify where the shrubs would grow and around what time of the season. Foraging represents a form of a multi-species understanding where the locals would take what they need and leave some for the shrub to regenerate next year.

Although It’s an individual activity, it is performed collectively. We’ve been carrying those rituals from year to year and from one body to another. the food we serve, the body we nourish and the table we're gathered around becomes a vessel of generational knowledge. “a seasonal ritual” will nurture a conversation around our agencies in a city where it left us deprived from all primary resources through the poetic dimensions of cooking and eating together.