For the Fall 2014 semester, Wafa Hourani led Orientamenti: Reshaping Past Traditions, a project combining personal and collaborative work with local community members and students in the Siena Art Institute Art & Society course. Through architecture, photography, and sculpture, the project offered a powerful reflection on the future of the Middle East.
Deeply shaped by the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Hourani’s work explores the social, political, and economic realities of life in Palestine. Trained in art and cinema in Tunis, he initially worked as a filmmaker before shifting to visual art in 2006, which he considers a more effective medium for addressing the Palestinian question. Using photography and sculpture, he creates immersive environments in which past and future are inextricably linked.
