Landing/ Maen Hammad

Landing by Maen Hammad explores the lives of Palestinian skateboarders in the occupied West Bank as they navigate the layered realities of Israeli settler-colonial domination. The book offers a thesis on skateboarding as a form of resistance to a headspace of violence. Documented between 2015 and 2022, it captures the fleeting moments of escape and the indomitable spirit of skateboarding. Through an interpretive dance of imagery and text the book presents a powerful counter-narrative—a taste of the Palestinian refusal to succumb. Produced in close collaboration with book designer Roï Saade, Landing harmonizes 22 critical essays, poems, and interviews alongside over 100 images. Weaving Maen’s personal narrative with the voices of Palestinian skaters, Landing provides an intimate lens into the everyday pursuit of freedom. It focuses on the alternative headspace crafted by these young skaters. This multi-layered book creates a necessary dialogue between text and imagery, providing variant micro-stories within the connected whole. Against the backdrop of ongoing genocide and nearly a century of erasure, Landing presents a vital portal into the tenacity, creativity, and decolonial struggle of this generation in Palestine.

English