Palestinian Seed Stories: To Eat Alone is To Die Alone

Wednesday May 1, 2024

5:00 PM - 7:00 PM EST

With Vivien Sansour

Oftentimes when Palestinian farmers put seeds in the ground, they mutter a quiet prayer, “may we eat and may we feed others”. This and many other linguistically profound sayings provide a lens into a cultural design based on the idea that our survival as individuals is connected to the well-being and survival of our community. In this time together, we will be invited to let go of our commitments to and preconceptions with “reality” in order to allow ourselves to imagine alternative universes that are inspired by nature and her daring imagination. From the real to the fantastical, we will engage in a hybrid and intimate activity of being physically present with other living beings, while channeling this co-presence into a writing activity that will bring us deeper clarities about who we have been, who we are, and whom we would like to be. This knowledge share will take us through a short but profound trip into our own spirits, the spirits of other people, and the seeds that help us weave stories to navigate a world that is in a state of hospice. For instance, how did imagination, nature, and science come together to make it possible for humans to develop bread from a wild grass, and how might this relationship of co-creation between humans and other beings inform our future? These questions call for urgent contemplation, because many of the things we love are dying or are already gone. We will have to learn how to grieve, and even how to die, together, in order to rebirth a new world in which we become “better designers”, together.