The Stories That Matter

The olive tree is a totem of Palestinian identity, culture, and resistance. It supports the livelihoods of more than 100,000 Palestinian families, is a centre of traditions and identities, and has long been a target of destruction and theft. Since 1967, 800,000 Palestinian olive trees have been destroyed by Israeli authorities and settlers. Over eighteen months, artists Adam Broomberg and Rafael Gonzalez travelled in the Occupied Territories of Palestine and photographed these trees, many of which are thousands of years old. Anchor in the Landscape brings together their studied, absorbing portraits, which act as fixed points in a historic and transforming landscape that is constantly disputed, altered, and increasingly destroyed. Each portrait bears witness to the presence and resilience of the Palestinian people and their relationship with the land. Adam Broomberg will talk about the potential of photography to reach people in an increasingly polarised and tribalised political and ideological landscape.