Haifa Bint-Kadi

Lives and works in Yonkers, NY, USA

Artist statement

My work is founded on a longing for home. My family history was passed down to me through the oral traditions of my ancestors, who were UNRWA refugees from Palestine and the Caribbean. I pay tribute to those stories by incorporating vintage porcelain, miniatures, beads, coins, shells, handmade tiles, and found ceramics that reference both Islamic architecture from my father’s homeland and memory vessels, a childhood craft my mom carried with her from the Bahamas. Much of my work is centered upon the archived memories from Palestine turned into an embodied experience; a narrative laden with imagination as I reflect and re-imagine my own past. Refugees and immigrants often find themselves yearning nostalgically and feeling grief for the lost places of their past, a home that cannot be returned to. As a response to this profound truth, my work translates fragmented recollections into captured moments of “home". The incorporation of cultural materials that I have collected over the years creates a thread weaving together stories that point to the diverse and multifaceted nature of identity. I breathe life into stories, transforming them into a language that resonates with viewers by evoking the shared experience of nostalgia and memory when thinking about home not as a place, but as an experience. The work is a reflection on individual and collective identity, exploring the diverse experiences that shape our understanding of self and community. My use of varied and often...

Artwork