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Peace next to your Heart
Interview with Ms. Nadira Araj
Ms. Nadira Araj is a Palestinian from Bethlehem, she is a lecturer in Operations Management at Bethlehem University since 1990. Ms. Araj has M.Sc. in Computer Science and Management Information Systems from Syracuse University in 1989.
I did not study art formally however I have a long standing love and passion for art that has compelled me to take every opportunity and attend art workshops in Bethlehem over the years. I have learnt the silver jewelry casting process and casting olive leaves at the International Center of Bethlehem and I still use their workshop to do the casting for my work.
Why did you choose the Olive Tree as a base of your art work? The olive tree is the ‘king’ of all Palestine trees and it has dominated the Holy Land countryside for thousands of years. Being in an olive grove surrounded by these blessed trees is a relaxing feeling. Plucking the olive leaves to prepare for the casting process is an enjoyable experience. Just looking at the different shapes of these trees sets off my imagination to figure out the age of the tree, the people who planted it, the weather condition that formed it’s shape, the people who lived from this tree, etc…. Then, as I start looking around to pluck more leaves, the distinctiveness of every olive leaf inspires me with more ideas for my jewelry designs that I will be creating from them once they are transformed into silver via the casting process.
What makes Peace next to your heart collection unique? The olive branch is an international symbol of Peace. Therefore by working on this collection with its special olive leaf motif gave me unlimited inspiration in producing my jewelry designs. We learnt from the Bible of the story of Noah and the Ark. “The dove came back to him at evening, and, behold, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off. So Noah knew that the waters were abated from the earth." Genesis 8:11. When Noah saw the dove with an olive leaf it gave him peace of mind that everyone on this earth aspires for. The olive tree to us Palestinians is a freedom symbol and an expression of defiance. It can grow anywhere and survive through very cold winters and very hot and dry summers in Palestine. These historic and symbolic olive trees used to be the main source of income to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian families but not anymore as thousands of these trees were uprooted for the construction of the separation wall which denied the farmers access to their groves too.
Wearing the olive leaf jewelry will keep this symbol alive in striving for freedom and give peace of mind.
What is the process of casting the olive leaves?
Then a metal cylinder is placed on the rubber base with the small tree inside. A plaster mix, is poured in the cylinder to cover the tree to form the mold inside the cylinder. When the plaster is dried-up the rubber base is removed and the cylinder is placed in a kiln with high temperature to reach a maximum off around 750 Degrees Celsius. The 8 hours baking in the kiln is for burning and evaporating the leaves and the wax inside the plaster cylinder. The real casting process starts when the Sterling silver is put in a centrifuge and melted with direct flame. When the silver is completely melted, the hot cylinder is taken from the hot kiln and put on the same centrifuge. The force of the centrifuge will inject the molten silver into every part of the plaster mold cylinder. After the injection of silver, the mould cylinder is cooled by placing it in a bucket of water to crack and remove the plaster leaving the silver leaves of the small tree that was formed at the beginning. Each individual silver leaf which is now a replica of the original olive leaf will be cut, filed off and put in a polishing machine. The whole process takes 36 hours and once the silver olive leaves are ready I start designing and soldering to make this lovely jewelry of the Peace Next to Your Heart collection.
Do you do other art work? Yes, I do participate in group exhibit and I love doing sculptural work that incorporates recycled objects. Through artistic practice I escape the stressful surrounding political environment and cultivate the pleasure of creativity by expressing my ideas in a tangible or visual media.
I’ve learnt recently the icon painting and I participated in December of 2008 lately in a group exhibit called “Mary in Palestine” with a painting I called “Mary’s tears”.
Nadira Araj can be contacted on:
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The
casting process is done by placing the olive leaves on a wax bar
positioned on a rubber base. Around 40 individual olive leaves could be
fixed on the wax bar forming a shape of small tree. 
©2008. RAI House of Art.