The Deglet Noor Film

The gallery show “Seven Species, Three Generations” premiered July 2022 in Boston, MA at the The Women's Studies Research Center at Brandeis University with generous support from the Combined Jewish Philanthropies. This group show featured interdisciplinary work of my six of my family members that explored themes based on seven different species of fruit derived from Israel. This unique opportunity offered me the chance to create this video installation entitled “The Deglet Door'' for the date variety, affectionately known as the “Daughter of Light,” which originates from the arabic word, daqlet, meaning “seedling” or “offspring,” a nod to the nature of working alongside my fierce family of artists, spanning across three generations.

I was inspired by the long and mystical history of the date palm tree upon learning that Coachella Valley, California is the largest global export of dates outside Northern Africa brought to the U.S. over 100 years ago. Part documentary and part dance film, it features Sam Cobb, a California date farm owner and farm engineer, who graciously allowed our small crew to tour his grove in lush Desert Hot Springs, CA and interview him. When I called Sam , the singular Black American date farmer and owner, he passionately walked us through his rich agricultural practices that he’s cultivated over the last twenty-five years, gambling on dates to make his living, now producing over 150,000 pounds of dates annually. To our surprise, we learned that only after twenty-one years, through three seven-year growth cycles, is the palm fully mature, a bit like us, and then will it yield the fruit of its labor. The mystical stories of the historic date is dynamic and one that’s told by many religious and spiritual practices, spanning from frond spines stemming from the tears of Satan as told by Muslim tribes to the death and ascension of the Virgin Mary as told by Catholic Spaniards. The serenity of the wispy palm fronds in the breeze, transported us to what could only be described as the Garden of Eden by Southern California standards. 

As gallery-goers entered this space, stepping into the cocoon of muslin, similar to the bag that holds ripe dates and bask in the slow-shifting light, which toys between being earthbound and buoyant, and flushed with colors sourced from the vast sky of Joshua Tree and the date grove, they are ushered in by this quote from The Date Palm: Bread of the Desert by Hilda Simon, the daughter of date pioneer, Henry Simon. He recollects: “There was a majestic desolation,” Simon wrote on his last date palm safari through Algeria, “a threatening vastness, a sad yet eloquent stillness about the desire as it shimmered in the brilliant sunlight that could not fail to impress. It was also a monotonous spectacle, yet of that I did not think, so mighty and solemn and awesome was it.”

This project was brought to life by a collection of gifted collaborators. I’d like to thank my director of photography and co-producer, Sanetra Longno, and projection mapping and lighting wiz, Carlos Martinez. Additionally, this project could not have been done without the support of Molly Lefanowicz, Ashley Manci, and of course my fellow gallerists.

Press

The Boston Globe: Read full article HERE

In Conversation with Adele Fleet Bacow, a panel hosted by Women's Studies Research Center at Brandeis University, September 2022

Watch the full panel HERE.