The impact of the Israeli occupation on the lives of individuals in the Golan: Rebound, an installation in progress by Shaza Safadi

Reflection by Shada Safadi is an installation in progress. Safadi is one of the artists supported by the Laboratory of Art program. She is working on her multimedia project, using video and engravings on transparent Plexi Glass, as well as a transparent Plexi Glass mural, a set of small-scale engravings, and engraved and heat-folded pieces in various forms.

About her project, Shada wrote:

‘Reflection is a project divided into two interactive parts. I call the first, “Still Breathing, a Step Back," and the second, “Staring”.

The first part, “Still-Breath, a Step Back,” is an engagement with the political

geography of the occupied Golan Heights and its impact on daily lives of its inhabitants,

individuals, and groups. The basic idea is to reflect on the distance and borders that separate life in the Golan from its Syrian extension, through multimedia installation using plexiglass and video recordings. The plexus glass is used to represent a folding of a piece of cloth between two persons, in which distance is overcome and the two come closer. It is inspired from the way head cloths are usually folded. The idea is to freeze the moment of proximity and create a counterpoint to distance. The video recordings are taken from the captivating scenery of the Golan Heights, and will be projected on engraved plexus glass boards. The projected light will intervene in the space of the exhibition, to signify the experience of boundaries and the shattered spaces in the Golan.

The second part, ‘Staring’, is a series of installation works, each composed of four pieces. Each piece will be composed of a mirror integrated with another shape. Each work will reflect a story I witnessed, such as the resemblance between a mirror and a bird, a mother's memory, a scarf, and images from the memory. All will be in the form of a mirror and will invite staring’.

Earlier in 2018, Safadi presented one of her works shown in Rebound in The Fourth Line – a group exhibition by artists from the occupied Golan, that was held at the German-French Cultural Center in Ramallah at the Qalandia International Festival.

Shada Safadi

Born in 1982, Majdal Shams, the occupied Syrian Golan heights. After finishing a two years class in painting and etching at Adham Ismail Institute, Damascus in 2003, Shada graduated from Damascus University with a degree in fine arts from the department of painting in 2005. Shada is a founding member of Fateh Al Mudarris Center for Arts and Culture, located in the occupied Golan Heights. She has participated in multiple exhibitions, including a solo exhibition at Fateh Al Mudarris Center for Arts and Culture, Majdal Shams, Golan Heights in 2006. In addition, her work has been featured in exhibitions in Damascus, Aleppo [Syria], Jerusalem, Ramallah, Berzeit, Bethlehem [West Bank], Umea [Sweden], and London. Recently, she participated in the Syrian Cultural Caravan, with exhibitions in France, Germany, Norway, and belgium.

Shada won the third place of the Young Artist of the year award for her work "in the presence of the crow" with A.M. Qattan Foundation in 2008. In addition, she was an artist-in-residence for three months in Cité internationale des arts, Paris in 2014. She currently lives and works between her home town in The Golan heights and the West Bank.