The work is part of a larger series of seven images that break down the movement of a body slinging stones: first, rotating the sling sideways and upwards; then, twisting, swinging, and extending the body; and finally, slinging, rotating, and balancing the body afterward.[1] The protesters seen in the

photographs have been outlined and rendered as black silhouettes to emphasize their anonymity, thereby amplify the act of slinging, its symbolism, and potential effects.

In the SIGHTINGS cube, four of these images are displayed on the transparent walls, elucidating a motion sequence that is at the essence of popular struggles. The silhouettes accentuate the performative aspect of the body protesting, while also highlighting the endurance that underlies frontline movements.

By transcending its source of inspiration—the photographs of Palestinians protesting Israel’s settler colonial occupation—the installation resonates with movements of popular resistance across the globe against colonization, systemic racism, exploitation, environmental destruction, social inequality, and all forms of discrimination. The project probes the inherent resilience of human bodies to power disparities, while the sling and stone symbolize defiance and the collective strength of bodies resisting. This symbolism echoes the ancient story of David and Goliath, where a boy faces a giant warrior with his sling.

Stone-throwing was and continues to be employed in contemporary liberation, social and environmental movements around the world, such as the Palestinian Intifadas (uprisings)—including the First “stones” Intifada (1987⁠–⁠1993). In these contexts, the sling and stone become powerful symbols and tools of resistance to confront repressive power. The installation in the cube challenges the perception of oppressed bodies as passive constructs. Instead, the body is framed as an active agent of change which possesses the capacity to contest the regimes and structures that subjugate it.

Central to this series of images is my interest and research in embodied experience, choreography, movement, and the physicality of resistance. When contemplating them, viewers encounter first-hand how Palestinian bodies are sites of settler colonial oppression and military occupation besides being sites of defiance.

The act of stone throwing is a choreographed movement that extends beyond the individual to the collective, as protesters become a united, powerful, and coordinated force. In occupied territories, where freedom of movement is restricted and surveillance apparatuses proliferate, even ordinary acts of mobility can take on political significance. Checkpoints, curfews, watchtowers, and other forms of spatial control make everyday tasks difficult and potentially dangerous, constituting constant reminders of the unequal power dynamic. This work seeks to shed light on the ways in which the body navigates these challenges and finds creative strategies to assert its agency.

By drawing on historical and mythological antecedents, Bodies in Motion connects the struggle of the Palestinians for freedom, self-determination, and refugees’ right of return since the 1948 Nakba to a broader narrative of defiance and determination that spans centuries and cultures.

[1] Bodies in Motion was part of the multimedia installation Choreographies of Resistance, exhibited at Western University’s McIntosh Gallery and AXENÉO7 Gallery (2018).