Mona Gazala

The works I chose for Deeply Rooted are all connected to indigenous archaeological sites that have been obscured or destroyed through both time and colonial constructs. My communing with these places through performance, interaction, and photo-documentation is a way of convening in a nonlinear sense with past and future, and in solidarity with not only my indigenous Palestinian roots but the beauty of all lands and indigenous histories.

Mona Gazala is a Palestinian-American artist currently living in Columbus, Ohio. She holds a Masters Degree from the Ohio State University in studio arts with a specialization in city/regional planning. Her practice, which is multi-disciplinary and often socially engaged, explores and exposes dynamics of power and systems of oppression that often manifest in the built environment. Gazala is the recipient of numerous grants from the Greater Columbus Arts Council, Franklinton Arts District, Puffin Foundation West, Ohio Alliance for Arts Education, Decapital, and the Hishmeh Foundation, to undertake creative work centered on community-building, social justice and activism.