Screening of Foragers: a Journey into Palestinian Traditions and the Politics of Conservation

Join us for a screening of Palestinian artist and filmmaker Jumana Manna’s film Foragers. Foragers focuses on the traditional Palestinian practices of foraging for the artichoke-like ‘akkoub and za’atar (thyme). Deeply embedded in traditional culture, these practices have been criminalised by the Israeli government under the guise of conservation efforts, resulting in heavy fines, trials, and prison sentences for Arabs who are caught gathering these plants. Following the plants from the wild to the kitchen, Foragers questions the politics of conservation in relation to traditional land practices, raising the importance of wild food sources as sustenance and as cultural symbol for people whose political autonomy, rights, and land have been under attack for nearly a century.