Using her photographs as conversation prompts with various residents, historians, and architects, Toukan places the anecdotes collected thereby into political and historical context, weaving together narrative and critique. Sundry Modernism sets out to be a gesture, a nod, a salutation to, and a critique of, the lines and angles of Palestinian modernism. It is a provocation on the act of looking, and, in particular, it is a proposal for reading apolitical forms in politicized contexts.
This bilingual English and Arabic publication follows Toukan’s participation in the 5th Riwaq Biennale (2014–16), and has been produced with support from Mophradat.