Mirna Bamieh: The Survival of Palestinian Food Culture
Words and Interview by Tia Ferhana published in JoCP Memory, 2022
Fermentation Station Interactive Table: Ujazdowski Castle for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, Poland, 2019
In early May this year - or more precisely during the last week of Ramadhan, we were disturbed by the images of Israeli forces violently attacking Palestinian worshippers in Masjid Al-Aqsa during Laylatul Qadr, one of the most sacred nights in the Islamic calendar. We also watched the resilience of Palestinians as they came together to protect the third holiest sites in Islam. Meanwhile, Gaza was once again targeted by Israeli air raids. Not to ignore the illegal Israeli settlements in Sheikh Jarrah and the demolition of Palestinian houses in Lifta and Silwan. As witnesses to this violence and oppression, Palestinians and non-Palestinians responded on social media to further spread awareness and shed light on the reality on the ground. Thousands marched on the streets in different cities around the world in solidarity with Palestinians. However, eventually, these noises got quieter. As many have conveniently moved on, Palestinians are still struggling for their rights and face oppression and violence daily, with no end in sight.
As Indonesians, our media tend not to shy away from showing the violence that is happening in Gaza. As heartbroken as I was watching it on TV, sadly, I have become somewhat desensitised. This image is something that I have witnessed time and time again over the years. However, this time around, I was made to see another side of colonisation. A side that has never been brought up by the mainstream media. A side that some might overlook, as it is not immediately seen as violent.
In addition to enduring physical violence, Palestinians are constantly facing the threat of erasure of their collective memory by the Israeli state. A process that arguably is just as violent. In constructing the Israeli narrative of the State of Israel, Israel has been systematically appropriating Palestinian cultural heritage, which includes Palestinian food culture. Israel has been stealing Palestinian cuisine and claiming it as their own in order to authenticate their existence as a nation. “In many major US cities ‘Israel hummus’ or ‘Israeli couscous tabbouleh’ can be found in grocery stores, cafes, and coffee shops. This rebranding of traditional Middle Eastern foods in the North American and European markets is another form of Israel’s appropriation of Palestinian culture for the purpose of reconstructing an Israeli narrative.” In another form, through occupation and displacement, Israel has caused a loss of memory and knowledge of Palestinian food culture.
To prevent its erasure, Mirna Bamieh, as a researcher, artist, and chef, founded Palestine Hosting Society. In 2017, she put together her first live art project to explore the traditional Palestinian food culture that is on the verge of disappearing. She brings back these dishes and stories that carry over performative dinner tables. She says, “The value of this project is to share the stories of the taste and the dishes. Hearing these stories, you will be able to understand and relate more to Palestine.” For each of the tables, she carefully selected the dishes to create spaces for reflection upon the socio-political realities, attitudes, historical practices, and the suppressed elements of history. Her audiences have expanded beyond Palestinians who are eager to reclaim their food culture. It has attracted the curious minds of non-Palestinians in different parts of the world. Her latest installation, Mouneh: Pantry Work, was on display from July until November 2021 at Ujazdowski Castle for Contemporary Art as part of the Everyday Form of Resistance project. This installation celebrates the art of fermentation presented on a cabinet of curiosities that takes the audience into a visual and sensual experience.
Catching up with Mirna over Zoom, we talk about colonisation and the survival of Palestinian food culture through the Palestine Hosting Society.
Mouneh: Pantry Work, Ujazdowski Castle for Contemporary Arts, photos by Piotre Bekas
How does the occupation and colonisation cause a loss of memory and knowledge of Palestinian recipes and food culture?
Since Palestine was originally a farmer nation, their connection to their land has been very strong and has been the way they view themselves over centuries. When we talk about occupation, the approach is a theft of land. Uprooting Palestinians from their livelihood, resources, and the way that they see themselves. That has created a rupture in the way Palestinians have control over what they eat and the produce they have access to.
Palestinians have also been kicked out of their houses and forced to go to refugee camps. These affected the way Palestinians are dealing with the food of their homeland. Some people have assimilated into their new places and stopped cooking Palestinian dishes altogether because it becomes a source of trauma. For others, they have decided to enhance it, keep talking about it, and continue to cook these dishes. There were families - when they were forced to leave to the US - they took seeds with them because they wanted to plant the vegetables they used to have back home to create authentic Palestinian dishes. So it is an act of oppression because when your land has been forcefully taken away, it affects the way that you view your livelihood and identity. Food is a part of that identity. Food that has been a source of gathering now can’t serve the same purpose because each one of your family is in a different place.
How is Israel appropriating Palestinian food culture and building their identity out of it?
It is not only ingredients that they have stolen but dishes as well. It started with hummus, and they moved on to so many other dishes. There are Israeli restaurants that are built on dishes that were cooked by Palestinians for generations. There are Israelis who have just learned about these recipes and have made restaurants based on them. They write cookbooks, documenting and reclaiming these recipes as Israeli. In a way, they are constructing an identity for the occupier that has not been there before. They did not say that it was prepared or shared amongst Palestinians in the occupied land - or Israel - whatever they want to call it. No! They just say that it is Israeli as if their grandmothers have been cooking it for generations. That in itself becomes a tool of oppression because they suppress and take the voices out of the people who have been cooking and sharing stories and memories around those dishes. There is a power dynamic where you have the powerful stealing the food of the powerless and reclaiming it as their own.
Mouneh: Pantry Work, Ujazdowski Castle for Contemporary Arts, photos by Piotre Bekas
Your menus are recipes and stories that are almost lost. As part of the generation that has lost this knowledge, how did you find a way to reconnect with it and bring them back to these dinner tables?
I would pick a topic that is interesting to me, that I want to learn more about. One of the topics that I created a table around is the wild edible plants of Palestine. I started learning from the people who have the knowledge about these plants. In this case, it was the hikers. So I went to the mountains with them and they taught me about the different plants. I also approached grandmothers to learn what we used to do with those plants because, at the moment of scarcity, the mountain was our kitchen. There is so much richness in wild plants. Unfortunately, we don’t cook with them as much these days.
Furthermore, as Palestinians, we don’t have freedom of movement. For instance, Palestinians in the West Bank need a special permit to go to the occupied lands. Our movement is controlled, and with that, there is a lot of knowledge that has been lost. For example, people in the West Bank do not know what people in Galilee cook, and there are wild plants in Galilee that we know nothing about. So, to gather information and collect these stories, I approach the older generations. The generations that were born in the 30s and 40s. Those who have the knowledge and memory about these recipes.
How can the Palestine Hosting Society become a tool of resistance for Palestinians?
Israel has power in the classical sense. What we have is our voices and stories that are anchored in time. They are not 60 or 70 years old stories, but they are hundreds and hundreds of years old. What we can do as Palestinians is to reclaim this power and our voices and have the world hear it. With what happened in Silwan and Gaza this year, we have creative people voicing out what is happening in a way that is not exhausted by politics. Stories that are closer to the people and are not only flattening Palestinian existence to clashes and death in the media.
These tables that you are presenting foreground the values of hospitality. How important is hospitality in Palestinian culture?
As you know, the word ‘hosting’ is part of the name of my project. So for me, the Palestine Hosting Society comes as a way to reclaim this act of hosting. When your land has been forcefully taken away from you and you are constantly being viewed as a nation that is being kicked out and has no right over their land, you start to question - how can you host? How can you invite people? How can you practice the role of hosting and opening your house to others?
For Palestinians and Arabs in general, we are known for being a hosting community. We would culturally host people who are in the middle of long distance travel. Hosting was an act of keeping humans alive during these times. During their travels, these people would move from one place to another, and they would stop at the first human cluster where people were living. They were always welcomed for three days and provided with food, shelter, and water. For Muslims, hosting was very important for merchants and explorers during that time. Therefore, I want to have this house open again. Through the tables that I presented, I want people to gather around, listen to the stories, and share food. I want them to become part of Palestine through the stories that we told through those dishes. So somehow, Palestine Hosting Society is my house that I am moving around through those tables.
