“In Memory of Tomorrow,” encompassed research and documentation of the social reality of these turbulent times brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Foundation urged artists to become witnesses pertaining to the social, economic and health tragedy taking place in Palestine today. This platform displays the results of the research conducted by the commissioned artists.

Documentation of the history of disease in Palestine is scarce, although diseases like the flu, plague, cholera, typhoid, typhus, dysentery and others have perpetually ravaged Palestinian urban and rural populations through history. Such epidemics coexisted with famines, droughts, wars and locusts, leaving thousands of deaths behind them. In some cases, like the Spanish Flu of 1919, the death toll of the disease hid itself from collective memory, between the victims of the 1915–18 famine and the war against the Ottoman Empire. The current COVID-19 pandemic is leaving deep social scars and estrangement from what used to be intimate and familiar. It has already left an inevitable impact on our tomorrow but, unlike historical diseases in Palestine, it also coincides with the Israeli annexation plan of the West Bank, the accelerated pace of normalisation between Israel and Arab countries, the exacerbation of the economic crisis—especially with receding international aid—and the failure of the Palestinian political project.

The project called on research proposals from Palestine that deal with the following themes:

1. The current restrictions on death rituals during the pandemic have meant many people are unable to say goodbye to loved ones, while performing the burial ceremonials of close relatives and friends are no longer practiced according to traditions. The dead arrive at cemeteries for the burial accompanied by a silent, small crowd wearing colourful decontamination suits. In this theme, artists were invited to use photography to document death and its rituals.
2. The pandemic has reshaped our living spaces and managed to scar our urban environments with a ‘new emptiness’ due to health parameters and the practice of social distancing. These eerie vacant landscapes have given rise to the ‘sound of silence’ caused by lockdowns and confinement. In this theme, artists were invited to use photography to document the new emptiness and the ascendance of silentscapes.
3. Hospitals and clinics are operating differently. A fast-rising tide of new coronavirus cases is flooding emergency rooms, with patients shaking with chills moved into intensive care units and sometime hallways while staff work extra shifts to keep up with the surge. People queue for hours to take the COVID-19 test. In this theme, artists were invited to use photography to document the rituals of the infected body arriving and eventually departing clinics, hospitals and infrastructure transformed into COVID-19 health centres.
4. There have been protests and small demonstrations in response to the social and economic repercussions of the lockdown measures of the ongoing pandemic. Many protesters, especially over social media, argued for monetary relief from the collapsing Palestinian economy after months of lockdown. The pandemic is leaving thousands of people jobless. The economy has entered a recession with no knowing how long it might last and how deep its impacts will be. Many establishments have been pushed to bankruptcy and many others will follow if the crisis continues. Palestinians are facing poor/borderline food consumption levels. Many families are skipping meals, eating cheaper food, or borrowing food from relatives and neighbours due to the loss of income. In this theme, artists are invited to use photography to document the acts of protest and descent as well as the collapse of livelihoods by means of deeper entrenchment of unemployment and poverty. Artists were encouraged to investigate abandoned businesses and the closure of smaller workplaces and industries.

The research of the abovementioned themes was encouraged to take place outside of major urban centres. Projects that target peripheries were given advantage and priority as well as projects that work in given theme in multiple geographical locations and communities. Other themes that do not match those abovementioned have also been taken into consideration by the selection committee, especially ideas that focus on the social reality of the tragedy of the pandemic. The commissioned artists have worked on their projects for 3 months under the supervision of members of the selection committee: Ahlam Shibli and Shuruq Harb.