Screening of Foragers by Jumana Manna at Cinéma la Renaissance

On the Golan Heights, in Galilee, and in Jerusalem, it is forbidden to pick za'atar (thyme) and akkoub (artichoke). Blending documentary and fiction, immersing itself in the aroma of za'atar and the prickles of akkoub, Foragers explores the dramatic impact of Israeli nature conservation laws on the age-old traditions of Palestinian culture and on the wild plant gatherers. 

This film is a product of programme “ We Knew How Beautiful They Were, These Islands ” proposed by curator Amanda Abi Khalil (Temporary Art Forum) as part of the exhibition pavilion “ UNDERTOW / Undertow” from the Art Explora village.

Palestinian artist Jumana Manna (born in 1987, New Jersey, lives and works in Berlin and Jerusalem) is a graduate of CalArts as well as the Oslo National Academy of Fine Arts and the Académie des beaux-arts and Bezalel Design College in Jerusalem. Through her films and sculptures, the artist questions the ways in which the social, the political, and interpersonal power relations interact with the human body. Her films blend fact and fiction, biographical details and archival documents to explore the construction of historical and national narratives. Her more abstract sculptures examine the calcifications of memory, represented by real or fabricated objects.