Exile

Acrylic and print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag® paper, 120cm x 180cm
Urban Nation Museum, Berlin, Germany 2019
Part of Fresh A.I.R. #2, curated by Yasha Young

Developed during a three-month artistic residency and presented at the Urban Nation Museum in Berlin, Exile explores the lived experiences of individuals displaced from their homelands. The project reconnects women and men in exile with their traditions, cultural heritage, and personal notions of “home.”

Exile — definition
Exile is the condition of being forced to leave or remain away from one’s homeland due to social, political, or psychological circumstances—banishment, deportation, persecution, or the inability to survive.

While migration describes the act of moving from one place to another, exile speaks to an emotional and existential state: the feeling of disconnection from what was once considered home. That sense of home may be geographical, cultural, linguistic, or even metaphysical.

Exile can manifest in many forms—nostalgia, rejection, resilience, hope. It may be temporary or permanent. Yet even when departure appears voluntary, exile is rarely a true choice; it is shaped by circumstances that leave little alternative.

The project shares the stories of Medea (Syria), Daliah (Iran/Palestine), Tahera (Afghanistan), and Majed (Palestine), offering personal perspectives on displacement and identity.