DescriptionThis illustration, depicting four women performing the traditional dance dabkeh while dressed in embroidered garments, is part of Mary Hazboun's "The Art of Weeping" collection, which she began in 2017. Hazboun practices what she calls "the art of weeping" as a means of processing grief and pursuing somatic healing. Her work explores the experiences of women living through war, military occupation, forced migration, and patriarchal systems. Hazboun's illustrations bring together the personal and the political, drawing upon her own experiences of violence, displacement, and loss. In this work, the dancers move together in lockstep, emphasizing the collective nature of both mourning, celebration, and resistance. Their synchronized movements and embroidered dress speak to the ongoing role of dance, community, and cultural traditions in Palestinian life, both in Palestine and in the diaspora. The empty background directs the viewer's attention to the figures themselves, inviting closer study of their gestures, expressions, and relationships to one another. Born and raised in Bethlehem, Hazboun moved to the United States in 2004.