The ground, like sand, which is more friable, is a recurring motif (leitmotif) in Batniji’s work. Nothing better sums up this piece, which was deliberately left without a title, than this line by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish: ‘My homeland is a suitcase.’ Untitled. Uncommentaried.

This two sides suitcase was designed during the retrospective “Quelques bribes arrachées au vide qui se creuse” at Mac Val (Paris, 2021), when the artist realized he had lived as long in Palestine as he had in France.