dear laila

Dear Laila, you are five now and have started to ask me where I grew up, and why we can’t go there. This is my attempt to give you an answer.

The seed for this oeuvre was planted when Basel Zaraa’s five-year-old daughter asked about the land where he grew up. Since he wasn’t able to take her there, he created a model of his childhood home in Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, Damascus. Through one family’s story, Dear Laila shares the Palestinian reality of displacement and resistance, revealing how war and exile are experienced through everyday, domestic, and public life.

An intimate, interactive installation which invites in one viewer at a time, it reminds us that when a place we love is destroyed, telling stories breathes it back to life.

All profits will be donated to the Palestinian Youth Mouvement.

Choose your price — 10$ minimum  |  Free for Palestinians
Open Tuesday to Saturday — from 12:20 p.m. to 7:20 p.m.

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A selection of works related to the installation, prepared by Maktaba Bookshop and Basel Zaraa, is available for consultation in the gallery space. These books can be purchased directly at Maktaba Bookshop.

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🍉 Opening, free of charge : Thursday, February 6th, 2025 at 5pm 🍉

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Content Warning
Mention of a massacre + Mention and sound of bombing + Themes of becoming a refugee