VALLEJO – A photography and film exhibit opening soon at a Vallejo art gallery will show Gaza as those who’ve never lived there seldom see it.
Starting Friday, Autonomous Gallery will be exhibiting Lara Aburamadan’s Remains in Memory - تبقى ذكرى, a collection of eight photographs and a six-minute film which depict daily life in Gaza between 2012 and 2016. The show runs through Nov. 7.
Aburamadan is a visual artist and journalist who was born and raised in Gaza City and now lives in the Bay Area. Her photographs and writing have appeared in the New York Times, VICE, NPR, Time Magazine, and elsewhere.
Aburamadan told the Vallejo Sun that her art humanizes the people of Gaza and shows their resilience, which counters how she sees the population often depicted in media.
“In the mainstream media everyone focuses on the government of Hamas and Israel, and the rockets. Of course that’s a reality, but no one talks about the people who live under this,” Aburamadan said. “So people imagine Gaza is just destruction and people crying. No one imagines that we’re humans who have daily lives, who go out to the sea, laugh, eat, and walk on the streets.”
One of Aburamadan’s photos features children celebrating; another shows a woman staring at the sea. Another photo depicts a man having a beverage in front of a beautiful sunset as he’s being interviewed and recorded. The majority of the images in Aburamadan’s photos and video focus on tranquility.
“Within the frames,” Aburamadan wrote in an artist statement for the exhibit, “serene moments unfold against a backdrop that longs for genuine peace—a rarity in the artist’s hometown.”
Aburamadan’s short film stitches together scores of videos, each less than seven seconds, which she had posted to the social media platform Vine between 2014-2016.
“With each fleeting scene, the artist invites you to witness the warmth and nostalgia that bursts forth from her memory,” Aburamadan wrote in an artist’s statement about the film.
The film features colorful city and seascapes, and joyful scenes from daily life like children playing, music performances, people swimming, and a man spinning clay. Some videos depict the aftermath of the 2014 Gaza war, which the Palestinian Health Ministry said killed roughly 2,300 Gazans, by showing rubble from buildings after apparent Israeli attacks. One video shows a child on a tire swing who sways above the rubble.
All the images in Remains in Memory are deeply personal, Aburamadan said, largely because she has been unable to return to Gaza since she left in 2016 at age 24. The places she captured are likely no longer there, and the people may not be either. Since Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli forces have destroyed or damaged over 80% of Gaza’s structures, and killed over 74,000 Gazans, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
“At the time when I was living there I took as many photos as I could,” Aburamadan said. “It felt as if something within me knew those would be the last photos. It’s alive in my head but when I look online and see that the neighborhoods have been destroyed along with all the houses I had lived in. Everything you see in the show is not the same.”
Aburamadan said she left because of the blockade Israel imposed starting in 2007, which severely restricted the movement of goods to Gaza and its peoples’ right to move, and oppression she faced from Gaza’s Hamas government, which limited what she could document and express as an artist and journalist.
Before she left and crossed the border into Egypt, she took a photo which captures fellow fleeing refugees. It’s called The Last Morning and is included in the exhibit.
“It’s a very close photo to my heart,” Aburamadan said. “Because it’s the last photo that I took in Gaza.”
An opening reception will be held Friday between 5 and 9 p.m. Other artists and businesses in Vallejo the Bay Area will play a part in the opening. DJ Nekajun will play music, and the restaurant Asüka will sell its Palestinian-Cuban fusion food. Several Vallejo-based artists – including Niki Toney, Marie Metran, and Isabella Spangher – are donating art for a silent auction to support Palestinian families.
Gallery owner Zachary Seth Greer obtained grant funding through the Vallejo Arts Fund to make high-quality framed prints of all eight of Aburamadan’s photos for the show. Each will be available for purchase. The prints are limited editions, with only one print available per photograph.
Greer’s Autonomous Gallery has displayed the Palestinian flag and been vocal about supporting Palestinians since the gallery opened.
“To me, Palestine is essential to all our struggles against colonialism and capitalism,” Greer said. “Hosting an exhibit like this is the least I can do to support their struggle for liberation and sovereignty.”
Aburamadan said she has intense feelings about the show and is glad it’s happening.
“To see these photos printed in large sizes, I feel very emotional; I always go back to my memories,” Aburamadan said. “I’m happy to be sharing this because part of my job and responsibility is to share as much as I can about my experience.”
Independent local news depends on you
The Vallejo Sun is supported by readers who value reliable, in-depth local news. Your support helps us continue investigating important issues and keeping Vallejo informed.
Become a member today
