Jumana E. Abboud’s research looks at the presence and absence of folkloric practice within social, political and natural environment, particularly in Palestinian oral history traditions; concentrating on the water source as a site for feminine and cultural knowledge. The natural water source - spring, well, stream – was a terrain of enchantment, written within our material and spirited lives;  collectively inhabited by human, non-human, living and nonliving. Referring to such water sites as spirited sites, Abboud’s research and artworks reimagine folk tale practice today, and aims to preserve Palestinian collective identity through trusting local knowledge. Knowledge that is activated and nurtured through a rich oral tradition, to which folk tales constituted a large part.  Her research primarily focuses on three main water sites:  Silwan, East Jerusalem; ‘Ein Qiniya, a rural village in the West Bank; and in the Upper Galilee region. Abboud initiates ‘water divining’ workshops exploring storytelling, coauthorship, and revisitation of water sources through extension of the folk tale into present day exploration. ​​​​​​​

Vaishali Prazmari uses the frame story and motifs of the 1001 Arabian Nights to generate 1001 paintings and artworks and proposing a new, visual reading of the Nights where Shahrazad the storyteller is all-powerful in that she holds the key to the entire 1001 Nights in her head, just as the artist can be all-powerful in the creation of multiple worlds and works. The painted object itself has other functions (didactic, magical, ritual, healing, storytelling…) and the site of a painting (in a book, on the wall, in your pocket, on a scroll, on a screen) also influences the transmission of this power. Additionally, painting ‘props’ or ‘marginalia’ around a painting takes the form of supplementary works (brushes, calendars, cyanotypes, knotting, weaving, small sculptures, films, digital works…) and these bring the paintings and their stories to life in a way that amplifies this power and helps solidify it into memory.