“When The Grapes Were Sour” by Palestinian photographer Rasha Jundi, is an ongoing multimedia documentary photography project that combines photography, audio and applied traditional Palestinian embroidery to printed portraits. Depending on the story, related archival images are also incorporated.

“It has been 75 years since the Palestinian people suffered the traumatic events that led to the Nakba (catastrophe), that started in April 1948, climaxed on May 15th, and continued until the following year and led to the forced expulsion of more than 800,000 Palestinians. Some argue that it continues to this day,” shares the photographer.

“Through this project, I aim to create personal accounts of individuals who identify as Palestinian exiles around the world. To date, I documented stories by exiles in Nairobi, Amman and Berlin. There are more than 14 million Palestinians inside the occupied territories and around the world, of whom more than nine million are registered refugees. This renders Palestinians the largest refugee population in the world.”

“I chose to apply cross-stitched embroidery by hand to selected portraits as I see myself in each story through this embroidery. I also hope to keep this vital part of our cultural heritage alive, while we struggle with our identity, fragmentation and the presently hostile political climate against Palestinians’ right to self determination,” explains Rasha.