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SALAD  (2021)

Salad - زلاطــــــــــة is an immersive sound installation that delves into the intersection of war and childhood. Zainab used the internet to compile a database of material from events that occurred in Iraq from 2003 onwards. The piece combines two sets of recordings from this database: one of clashes in Baghdad and the other of prayers from a local mosque in 2004 in order to replicate the artist's childhood memories. This combination was chosen to reflect the artist's upbringing in Aladamiyah, Baghdad, where times of prayer were often accompanied by violent clashes, and therefore explores the deep-seated relationship between the sound of prayer and fear.

Gathering these sounds from the internet highlights Iraq's complex contemporary history. The political instability has resulted in a lack of comprehensive, unbiased records of events over the past decades. In response, the piece reflects Aldehaimy’s attempt to construct a plausible truth about her childhood surroundings.

The work is titled after an Iraqi expression, Zalata (salad), used specifically to express the normalization of an event which has become as familiar and routine as eating salad.


Salad, sound installation, 4’46’’, 2021.