With Areej Ashhab and Ailo Ribas
15+
In English

Areej Ashhab and Ailo Ribas introduce their collaborative book The fast-growing stinking escaped waste-loving wall-breaching self-cloning other-than-natural no-man’s tree, which stemmed from their journey through Palestine in August 2022 and their encounters with ailanthus altissima (Tree of Heaven). An invasive species introduced to Palestine during the 1960s and 1980s as part of the Jewish National Fund (JNF) Forestry and Green Innovations, the tree was a starting point for their reflections on land and survival amidst settler colonialism. Ashhab will share personal stories of the tree from her family’s homes in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, relating its growth patterns to the shifting ecological and political landscape of Palestine. Ribas will unpack the notion of weediness associated with the tree as a means of addressing issues of belonging and resistance in Palestine. 

About Areej Ashhab 

Areej Ashhab is a Palestinian artist, architect and researcher dedicated to cultivating decolonial community, land practices and material ecologies. 
 

About Ailo Ribas 

Ailo Ribas is a Catalan-English writer, researcher, community organiser and gardener, committed to disentangling the relationship between language and the land by cultivating folk knowledge and foregrounding othered perspectives.
 

Sharjah Art Foundation is committed to making its programmes inclusive and accessible. You will find disability access symbols indicating accessibility for all sessions on the registration form. Kindly contact us in advance to arrange for any support needed.

For more information, email learning@sharjahart.org or call (06) 568 5050.