Palimpsest as Image with Sama Alshaibi

(Zakiriya Gladney photo)

On June 6 at the Monadnock Center for History and Culture, visual artist Sama Alshaibi presented طرس – Tterss (Arabic: Palimpsest), a series of mixed-media collages that engage with the historical sediment of Baghdad—the city of her ancestors, her childhood, and its fragmented present, shaped by decades of imperial occupation and conflict. Alshaibi refers to this sediment as a layering of memory, compressed by time, violence, and the struggle for survival.

Rooted in her Iraqi and Palestinian heritage, Alshaibi’s work reflects on the human consequences of war, exile, and ecological degradation. She states, “It is not about uncovering what was lost, but about discovering what has formed in its place.” As a refugee from Iraq, Alshaibi, along with her family, immigrated to the United States—a form of displacement she describes as “another kind of psychic rupture.”

Alshaibi revisits this complex history through an extensive archive of public records, photographs, and footage of Iraq shot by her father, as well as her own materials collected over the past forty years. Her work, which spans photography, sculpture, installation, and video, draws the audience into a profound exploration of memory and trauma—elements that shape her own experience and those of countless other displaced individuals. Notably, she incorporates LiDAR technology, a remote sensing method that uses laser pulses to map the earth’s surface with extraordinary precision.

Through the integration of historical records, personal narrative, and cutting-edge technology, Alshaibi’s work provides a nuanced exploration of loss, resilience, and the ongoing process of identity formation in the face of displacement and fragmentation.