Memories of Palestine
Reviewed by: Patricia Belen and Kristy Leonardatos
Review started: February 27, 2023
Review last updated: February 28, 2023
Site Link
Data and Sources
- 34 interviews with videos, text, and photos conducted between 2014–2019.
Processes
- Frank Ostyn traveled to multiple locations with Palestinian communities to interview subjects and edited the footage into a presentable format of videos, text, and photos.
Presentation
- The site opens to a landing page that displays a static map that has numbered markers that appear to represent the countries from the interviews.
- Interviews are presented in descending chronological order, in a grid of images of the subject.
- Some of the interview pages contain tags but there is not a consistency. The 2 tags are for the location and name. Upon clicking location, the page is a collection of the people from that location. Upon clicking the name, the page results in a photo of the interviewed person.
- Additionally, there is a comment field on the interview page in order for viewers to fill out and be displayed at the bottom of the interview page.
- Other web pages include information about the project, events, and a video interview about Jewish-Palestinian friendships.
- A link to the project’s Facebook page is prominently displayed.
- The exposition tab leads the viewer to a page that contains 2 links.
- The first link is a page about the Under Construction Festival that was held during Feb 2018 in Ghent. Under Construction is based on reciprocity and aims to promote cultural cooperation, dialogue and exchange. There appears to have been a selection of talks, writings, theatre and art offered. The (L)AND exhibition/performances were held at the Memories of Palestine creators home.
- The second link is in Dutch and there wasn't an obvious translation button.
Digital Tools Used
- Information not prominently displayed on site
- Wordpress
- YouTube
- Wappalyzer lists PHP and Javascript (coding) and Siteground (website hosting)
Languages
- English (primary language), Spanish
Review
Memories of Palestine shares stories from Palestinians who live in the diaspora. As a result of displacement due to war with Israel, work opportunities and religious persecution, there are more than 6 million Palestinians living outside the borders of Palestine, although this number may have changed, as there is no mention of when or where this data was collected. Frank Ostyn, a visual artist and digital storyteller based in Belgium and the creator of Memories of Palestine, traveled to Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, United Kingdom, and the United States between 2015 and 2019 to conduct the interviews with Palestinians.
The website is straightforward and easy to navigate. A description of the project and links to the interviews are immediately available on the homepage. The thumbnail images of the subjects are intriguing and show a range of types of people and ages. Most of these portraits show the subjects smiling which gives an optimistic and hopeful feeling to the project. Hovering over the thumbnail image reveals the date the interview took place (or when the interview was added to the website), the subject’s name and their location (city). The website is easily accessible on a mobile device and the project at-large can also be found on Facebook and YouTube — providing easier ways for people to connect with each other.
The interviews themselves are detailed and moving, although Ostyn does not offer any insight into how his interview subjects were identified or chosen Despite it being difficult to gauge how representative the collection is of global Palestinian communities, the information presented is an interesting combination of historical Palestine, family stories, living in the diaspora, along with everyday details, hobbies and personal anecdotes. For example, Pablo Abdala, currently living in Argentina, was a professional soccer player for Latin American teams but also proudly played for the Palestinian national team. He talked about the daily struggles of Palestinians such as checkpoints, imprisonment, and the destruction of homes. But also spoke about how playing soccer for Palestine is inherently political and how passionate he felt to bring joy and pride to his people.
The combination of interviewing people that either lived in Palestine, made a visit to Palestine, or never had the opportunity to experience a visit was a testament to safeguarding the memories from different perspectives. On the “Diaspora” page, Ostyn posits that “all Palestineans in the diaspora carry their memories of Palestine” and that “over the years these memories have become precious stories.” Although poignant, these statements can feel like unsubstantiated generalizations limited to his personal interactions with members of the community. Given the turmoil related to the region, it would seem critical to make space for community members who have less than positive experiences that dominate their memories, resulting in less stories that may not be so “precious”.
Unfortunately, the website, Facebook page and YouTube channel have not been updated since 2019/2020. Perhaps there could be a way for people to enter their own stories through this website. This may help keep the project alive, rather than relying on Ostyn to travel to various cities, film the interviews, and edit the videos which is undoubtedly expensive and time-consuming. The project does not appear to be supported by any institutions or grants.
The majority of Palestinians cannot go back to their home country. Memories of Palestine keeps these stories alive and makes them available to a general audience, rather than solely being passed through friends and families. This archive of memories enables the diaspora and future generations to form connections to their home and to each other.