Last Saturday on May 25 @justineyoussef, supported by @parra_artiststudios, (Parramatta Artists Studios)
Last Saturday on May 25 @justineyoussef, supported by @parra_artiststudios, organised a breakfast event titled ‘Bless their Hands’ as part of her art and performance work. Marta and Jamal and I were so happy to be asked to participate in this beautiful project that brought so many different people and different worlds together. We made Saj bread and #Manekish, this is something we have dreamed of making here in Australia since we arrived from our villages in Lebanon. We haven’t had access to the equipment to make the Saj bread but because of this project we now do! We came together last Saturday and relived the lives we had to leave for Australia, we made Saj bread for two hours the way umi and all of our aunties would every morning in our village. I imagined myself with umi helping me to flatten the dough and feed the fire with wood under the Saj, I remembered being so exciting at the end of the bread making when we would all feast on the fresh manekish, olives, eggs and labneh. This was such an amazing experience. Misha Salloum, a tattoo artist who recently arrived from Syria, painted a wall mural in Arab calligraphy, everyone helped to prepare olives for my family to eat next season as they ate the olives we fed them. I look forward to more opportunities to participate in projects such as these, ensuring our culture and traditions live on and on, forever praying to Bless the Hands of our mothers who held us and taught us so much.
Photos by Andrew Vincent Photography. Courtesy of Parramatta Artists’ Studios.
by sahtein_lebanesefeasts / Instagram