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we would be freer
Rana Nazzal Hamadeh’s colourful, low-resolution imagery searches for indigenous plants, ravaged by settlement colonialism. More than a condemnation, Hamadeh’s docu-essay feels like a reappraisal of the (political) power that lies within crops like deerhorn and sumac. The medicinal properties of their leaves and roots in the cuisines and landscapes of both Native Americans and Palestinians—represented here on a sparse soundtrack by Linda Deer and Raya Ziada—serve as a bridge connecting their peoples from a distance.
Despite the often contextless close-ups, the personal experiences of the two women feel like an alternative biology lesson—untouched by a dominant Western view on medicine. Their herbarium does not contain hydrogel for burns, but staghorn fern. Sumac harvesting is practical knowledge, not an internet search term. Their connection with nature is one that Westerners have long forgotten. It testifies to a greater self-reliance that must be preserved at all costs. Ziada phrases it as such: “If we don't have sovereignty over our food, we’ll always be dominated.”