Dima Srouji | PSE
Subterranean Non-Fiction
The surface of the earth is embedded within it the richness of our past, but those that attempt to reveal the stories of our underground have for centuries done so as colonisers and occupiers with self-serving motives.
This talk traces one of these attempts in the archaeological site of Sebastia, Palestine. This archaeological village is a highly contested site, today under Israeli occupation, that was abused for over a century, starting with the Harvard excavations of 1908. Here, the intergenerational
trauma from the history of constant excavation, forced labour, confiscated land, and agricultural terrorism, lives on.
Dima Srouji is a Palestinian architect working with multiple mediums including glass, maps, archives, and film. Her work explores the power of the ground and its artefacts in revealing silenced narratives specifically concerning Palestine. Srouji is a graduate of Yale University, founder of Hollow Forms, and currently teaches design studios at Birzeit University in Palestine.