*UPDATED 5th May*

This is my final updated photograph of my tents progress. I took my work one step further by spreading the calligraffiti on the floor in the tent as well as the walls and then out onto the floor and up the wall behind where the tent sat in its final position. I hung the Kufiyehs and Hattas (Palestinian and Jordanian scarfs) on the tent and up on the wall, the way and elderly man would hang up his scarf after a long day in his home, wheres as now due to settlers in Palestine occupying the land these innocent families are forced to leave their homes and some killed. My work often reduces me to tears but this was the most emotionally satisfying piece I have ever made but makes me cry even at the thought of the amount of people and their lives that are affected in every article related to my tent.

I used trinkets throughout the interior of the tent to give a decorated and lived in refuge shelter feel. I have spent so much time working on, in and around the tent that I have connected with it, making it a familiar place to me now, which I think helped this aesthetic naturally.  The details in the objects that build up this shelter are the most important aspect of my work. From worry beads (rosaries) that I made out of clay with teapot handles and other found objects. Checker pieces, pieces of glass, plaster bullets; hopefully all of these speak for themselves in my work.

*UPDATED 29th April*

I have added more articles than I could have imagined using a few months ago. I ended up using over 400 screen shot pictures of articles that I had saved over the last couple of years; all printed, cut, collaged and calligraffitied on, as a bigger part of the tent and what covered the majority of the inside of the tent.

While working on the tent fabric which is what made up the walls that I covered on the tent inside, I realised that the semi-meditative or venting state that I would get in to create/paint on my work was all done on the floor. I felt most comfortable listening to specific music after subjecting myself to a while reading/watching articles related to home and the Middle East. My work is deeply personal and allows me to control my emotions and frustrations to do with the subject matter, as this is my reality and I often have to take a moment to myself and get myself together a little more.

I have found that I have been documenting all of the information I have read about the recent events occurring in the Middle East and all of my ideas for my work and final idea for my degree show installation, through the use of sketchbooks. The photos are of numerous recent pages in my sketchbook that are relevant and an important contributing factor to my work. All of my thoughts, ideas, sketches for designs, emotional rants (a large concept which relates to my work) and notes of significant influences. I struggle to blog sometimes due to a variety of reasons, but keeping a sketchbook is always something I have enjoyed and done naturally throughout any project I work on. It helps me visualise my ideas and concepts, no matter how silly some seem a few days after when I go through the weeks notes; all aspects influence my work and help me keep my mind at ease. After all my work is emotional and extremely personal to me, and my work has become a somewhat reflection of my current ‘everyday life’.

 

I have inserted a link to one of the voice memos I have recorded about my ideas in general as a mental note. As I have dyslexia, visuals like sketches and voice memos are the best way for me to get my ideas and thoughts down, as writing them tends to fluster me and most times ends up with me forgetting the idea.

https://soundcloud.com/zaperi/voice-memo-uni-3rd-year

 

The photos below are of my sketchbook. The first photo is of final sketches of the plan for the tent I am planning on building, inspired by refugee tents. My final tent idea is a tent frame made out of bamboo, as I was unable to borrow a tent frame from the scouts/army, and found it to be too expensive to but a collapsable chicken coop off the internet. The bamboo is strong enough (I have experimented and will post pictures soon) to support the paper and bits of fabric (Hatta’ or Qufiyeh fabric relating to Jordan and Palestine) that will be covering the frame. I will calligraffiti all over the tent, during a day I plan on shutting myself off from the world for a while and read and listen to music, hoping to end up with a genuine, honest, emotional response to it all.

I may present my sketchbook in the centre of the tent, along side a jar that will contain trinkets such as a compass, a clock or some worry beads, symbolising my roots; my parents and grandparents, born and raised in the Middle East (Palestine, Egypt, and Jordan), that I always remember with trinkets like these on them at all times throughout my childhood.

Below are some facts that I have documented about Palestine; that wouldn’t normally be shared often on mainstream media.

The picture below contains one of my first sketches of the concept I had about building the tent.  I was unsure whether to use museum like barriers around the  tent for viewers to walk around; I’m hoping to make viewers feel uncomfortable and slightly overwhelmed by the realness of the issue my work is about, while looking at the “home” hundreds of thousands of people have been living in, ‘looking and not touching’ from the outside; as the world is doing about the occupations and current issues occurring on a global scale.
  

These are a few sketches I did in response to some research while listening to music; the article was about a woman who lives amongst the refugees in a camp and has dedicated her life to around 400 of the refugee children.

The words say ” Ya rabbi, albi byi’taa, byi’taa albi.” which translates to “My God, my heart breaks, it breaks my heart.” I said this under my breath after reading the article. They are common empathetic phrases used often in the Arabic speaking culture.