A.MAL x AWAN present: Stories That Lay In The Land Film viewing and panel discussion

Join Leila Gamaz of A.MAL Collective in conversation with Zainab Rahim and Alaa Alsaraji after a viewing of their films The Animals, the Plant and the Stranger (Gamaz, 2021) and The Land of 30 Million Palm Trees (Alsaraji and Rahim, 2021)

Both works are inspired by North African and Arabic oral traditions, exploring climate and ecology through family history and storytelling. The first tells the stories of three species which have become extinct in North Africa as a result of over-consumption, capitalism, and colonialism. The second, chronicles the story of Iraq’s climate and environmental crisis using the iconic Basra Date Syrup as a starting point.

In conversation we will explore using archives as a means of storytelling about both person- al and wider political issues, using remembrance as a tool for reconnection, and drawing on the past to reimagine alternative futures.

Alaa Alsaraji is a visual artist, designer and creative facilitator. Through her creative practice she aims to explore themes such as belonging, reimagining space and community, predominantly using the medium of digital illustration. She also works as a facilitator, delivering creative workshops. Alaa is also the arts editor of Khidr Collective

Zainab Rahim is a writer and editor. She works for a legal charity called RAID, holding corpo- rations to account. She recently completed an MA in Postcolonial Culture & Global Policy. Zainab is also the non-fiction editor of Khidr Collective’s annual zine, and the editor-in-chief of a commentary website called The Platform seeking to share marginalised stories.

Leila Gamaz is an artist and writer who creates opportunities for healing losses experienced by the diaspora through stories, interviews, archival research and self-exploration. This encompasses memories of and held by landscapes, species, and bodies. They build on these collective stories of the past to help us dream and imagine alternative futures. Leila is one of A.MAL Collective, a collective that explores ecology, migration and globalisation through speculative art and research projects. Curated by Jessica El M.