18/07/2026
Nearly two years into my PhD, I find myself reflecting on how much this research has transformed my artistic practice, and how much my artistic practice has transformed my research in return.
These photographs were taken during Between Then and Now: Performing Archives at Manchester Metropolitan University this June, but somehow they have come to represent much more than a single conference for me.
Looking at them now, I realise they capture a moment in the middle of a much longer journey.
What began as a question about Palestinian archives has slowly unfolded into an embodied practice: an album that continues to grow through performances, workshops, conversations, writings, and collective encounters. An archive that is no longer something I simply study, but something I activate with others.
This year alone, that practice has travelled through conferences, performances, IETM in Oulu, new collaborations, and communities of artists, researchers, and activists who have shaped the work in ways I could never have imagined. Each encounter leaves another trace. Another question. Another possibility.
I'm deeply grateful to everyone who has supported me in this journey: my supervisors, Rebecca Hillman and Katie Natanel, whose care, generosity, and belief in the work have helped it flourish; the colleagues, friends, collaborators, and communities who continue to challenge and inspire me; and everyone who has sat around this album, touched its pages, asked difficult questions, and helped bring it to life.
There is still so much to uncover.
This autumn I'll be sharing the next chapter of this research at TaPRA Conference in London, while continuing to develop new workshops and public encounters around The Palestinian Archive as Embodied Practice.
This feels less like arriving somewhere than standing at the beginning of something much larger.
I'm excited to see where it leads. ✨
📷 Photographs from Between Then and Now: Performing Archives, Manchester Metropolitan University, June 2026. Photography by Brian Slater.
