Cambridge: A Disposable Morning with Sawa

Whilst creating Sawa, I was thinking about how culture and tradition transcends borders. Upon reflection, I began remembering the ways in which my parents subconsciously instilled culture within us throughout our childhood. At home, our mother surrounded us with traditional Palestinian embroidery in the form of pillow cases, wall art and scarves, alongside home-cooked meals including warak areesh and musakkhan. Going to school, our dad would play the same Um Kaltoum song every morning and every evening (at the time, this drove me crazy and, to this day, when I hear the song I can’t help but simultaneously laugh and feel annoyed), and often took us to Mill Road: a multi-cultural street in Cambridge where we would pick up traditional foods, fresh fruits and visit family friends. Reminiscing further, I was always fascinated by old photos that my grandma and mother passed on to me, depicting my mother’s childhood in Lebanon and traditional family life. I learnt about my grandad through his old photos and documents; his business travels across the Middle East and Africa, his social life with friends and family, and his documents showing his birthplace in Palestine.

Here, you’ll find a series of images exploring this idea of nostalgia through my own individual experience of being born into the diaspora, and the closeness I feel to being British and Palestinian, through making a traditional Middle Eastern breakfast - an old Sunday ritual we had growing up.