Keyword Soil

In 2020, just as the pandemic was beginning, Gazala purchased land in western Ohio, on which sits a disused school building. This site allowed her to explore her complex relationship with “the land.” As the daughter of displaced indigenous Palestinians, she attempts to form a proxy bond with the earth, on ground that was stolen from the displaced indigenous Shawnee people. Closeness to the Land is video footage of hand-painted text signs that translate the word الأرض (ard) into six English words, displayed performatively in multiple locations to capture the now-invisible nature of indigenous culture in Ohio. These signs were installed on the old schoolhouse in early 2021.

Something from there is a short film on the substance of our original lands. Weaving between the voices of the artist’s parents, one a refugee and the other not, the film is personal, yet evokes a shared Palestinian experience.

Explains that different kinds of soil are mixtures of sand, clay, and humus; tells how the weathering of rocks helps make soil; includes simple experiments to show the kind of soil in which different plants grow well.

Three family-owned farms on the Delmarva Peninsula and their success using practices that protect and promote healthy soil; practices that also safeguard working lands against the extremes posed by climate change.