As part of our summer programme, New World Order, John Hansard Gallery presents Alaa Abu Asad.
In his video-essay Wild Plants of Palestine (2018), Alaa Abu Asad follows botanical expeditions led by Birzeit University professors documenting Palestinian flora in the West Bank. The work interrogates the territorial dimensions of what constitutes ‘Palestinian’ in a postcolonial landscape, while addressing photography’s dual role as both a tool for knowledge dissemination and information control.
Abu Asad also presents his ongoing research project, The dog that chased its tail to bite it off (2019–present), which examines Reynoutria japonica (commonly known as Japanese knotweed) as a metaphor for exploring xenophobia, migration, and cultural acceptance. The project traces how this plant – expropriated by Dutch East India Company physician Philipp Franz von Siebold and first brought to Europe in 1823 – transformed from prized botanical specimen to vilified ‘invasive species.’ Abu Asad draws compelling parallels between the aggressive rhetoric used to describe this plant and similar language directed at human migrants, questioning why certain non-native species become national treasures while others remain perpetually foreign despite their remarkable resilience.
Learn more about the artist here.