EVENT DETAILS

Saturday, October 21 AND Saturday, November 18 
1:00-4:00 pm 
Free and open to the public

a conversation,
an installation,
a photograph,
an oases,
the complaints department,
a recollection,
a beach vacation,
a gathering,
the apocalypse,
a very good time……

Join Palm Assembly artists Sylvia Hughes-Gonzales and Ebti in exploring contemporary and historical connections to the palm tree in their participatory project INVASIVE FANTASY. In this immersive installation and photo booth, all are welcome to share their personal stories and perspectives on the palm tree.

Palm trees evoke California dreaming, wealth, relaxation, land of promise, and the enduring allure of the West. While palm trees remain an integral part of California identity much of what they symbolize is borrowed from far away places, long exoticized by the West. California only has one native palm--the Washingtonia Filifera [2]. Is California a place that never was--full of false promises and borrowed identity? Is it a fantasy? Much like social media, where images float unmoored from their context, so too does the palm tree.  

Palm Assembly is an ongoing collaboration between two artists based in California. One from Cairo where the palm tree symbolizes all the love of place and home. The other from the Gulf Coast where palm trees inspire resilience for their ability to bend but rarely break in hurricane winds. @palm_assembly [3]
 

About the Artists

Ebti is a multidisciplinary artist, a self-taught photographer and a translator living between Cairo and San Francisco. She has an MA in translation and intercultural studies from Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz and an MFA in Fine Art from California College of the Arts. Ebti is part of “Right window collective” and is sitting on the curatorial council at Southern Exposure Gallery in San Francisco. Her work was shown in galleries around the US and Egypt. She currently teaches visual arts and photography at Performing Arts Workshop in San Francisco, Bay Area. ebti.art [4]

Sylvia Hughes-Gonzales works in sculpture and social actions to address themes of celebration, destruction and the ways they intersect. She makes objects, installation and utilizes procession in urban spaces to explore invisibility, hospitality, loss, and the power of collective grief. She currently resides in Oakland, California. www.sylviahughesgonzales.com [5]