‘Phoenician Pigeons’ photographed in the Palestinian city of Ramallah © Yasmine Omari for Athens Design Forum
Athens Design Forum is pleased to present Phoenician Pigeons, a new collection amongst the first retrospective of Hollow Forms [est. 2016] by Palestinian designer Dima Srouji.
This collaboration spearheads Palestinian-Greek cultural relations through the inaugural showcase of their collective glass histories. Amplifying the agency and mobility of craftsmanship, Phoenician Pigeons is shared in conversation with the six-year retrospective of Hollow Forms, an initiative that envelops the transformative and diverse vocabulary of glass. Srouji approaches glass as a lens to decipher how archaeological sites and artifacts in Palestine are weaponized, becoming mediums for serial displacement and colonization.
Over the last year, Srouji has conducted research on the textures and forms of glass artifacts found along the Eastern Mediterranean coast. The richly dense marbled textures were historically produced from a mixture of coastal plant ash and ground seashells. Embodying the deep chromatic values of the Mediterranean, the contemporary marbled effects of Phoenician Pigeons are produced by the Twam family in Jaba’, a historic village between Jerusalem and Ramallah.
Hellenistic articulations of the pigeon form are unique to this region, prompting the crystallization of the Phoenician Pigeons collection with archaeological references across Cyprus, Greece, and Palestine. The archetypal vessels’ usage is unknown and they are routinely categorized as flasks, bottles, and amphoras. These vessels were likely used for cleansing rituals, perfumes, oils and wine, and possibly as feeding bottles for children. Srouji revitalizes this ancient form by creating a distinct homogenous body that reads as singular, where the negative space between the vessels is just as crucial and studied as the positive space of the vessels themselves.
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HOLLOW FORMS
Hollow Forms [est. 2016] is a glassblowing project in Palestine that aims to reveal the hidden history of the material in the region and shed light on the continuing skills of the craftsmen in Palestine. This is done in collaboration with the Twam family in Jaba’, a historic village between Jerusalem and Ramallah. The Twams have 40 years of experience with glass and three generations in the same family are working in the shop in their home.
DIMA SROUJI
Dima Srouji’s role as the designer is to work with experts to imagine new ways of experimentation in forming contemporary glass where the maker and designer push each other’s limits. Dima’s background is an architect, designer, artist, and educator working in the expanded context of interdisciplinary research-based projects using multiple mediums. In her work, Srouji looks for potential ruptures in the ground where imaginary liberation is possible. She also works with film, text, archives, maps, and plaster casts, understanding each as an evocative object and emotional companion that helps her question what cultural heritage and public space mean in the context of the Middle East. Srouji is currently the Jameel Fellow at the Victoria & Albert Museum and leading the MA City Design studio at the Royal College of Art in London. She is based between London and Palestine.
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