In October 2020 I was accepted into Domus Art Residency in Southern Italy. Domus is an international eco-feminist residence based in the baroque town of Galatina, dedicated to the Mediterranean and South.
The residency project was documented as a short documentary film that contextualizes seven dances in seven different locations across the region of Puglia, Southern Italy, in October of 2021. The performances were part of an investigation into the ancient Tarantismo dance ritual that took place every year in Puglia up until 50 years ago and the contemporary issue of the Olive Tree decimation, in which acres of Olive tree fields have been eradicated in the region owing to the spread of a mysterious disease – Xylella- a result of climate change. The film chronicles my own journey and experience of growing up as a woman in Pakistan and draws parallels with the history of Tarantismo and the current destruction of the Olive tree.