Feint Recollections of a Time Beyond

Arabic translation by Amin Alsaden.

Feint Recollections of a Time Beyond is a digital render of a solitary Iraqi date palm tree, gently swaying in the waters of the Euphrates. The work condenses inherited memories from the artist’s father of growing up on the banks of the Euphrates near Anah, Iraq, the submersion of the ancient city of Anah in 1987 due to the construction of the Haditha Dam, and the contemporary recession of the water level in the Euphrates upstream of the dam due to climate and regional pressures.

After ancient Anah was flooded in 1987, many palm trees stood half-submerged, peering above the water line, a story recounted many times by Al-Rawi’s father. Recently, water levels in the area dropped so much, Assyrian-era tombs carved into the banks of the river from the ancient city of Telbas were revealed.

Damaged infrastructure from decades of conflict and upstream dams have resulted in dwindling water flows, leading to acute water shortages for local communities and the degradation of agricultural land from soil salinity. The date palm is a national icon in Iraq, and date farming an ancient cultural practice, and currently its second largest export after oil. The groves require ample quality water for a bountiful harvest, and as such, are under particular threat from drought.

In this work, the ebbing water refracts the view, which oscillates from clear to obscure, to manifest a visual metaphor for the essence of inherited memories, as well as encourage reflection on the impact of climate and resource pressures on the ancient and mighty Euphrates, and the treasured palms sustained by it.