Making Waves #22
Against erasure: archiving as resistance
Hala Alnaji & Almut Sh. Bruckstein
with a performative reading by Moayad Alsahli

Monday, June 22, 2026, 8pm
KM 28
Karl-Marx-Allee 28
12043 Berlin

Making Waves welcomes Hala Alnaji and Almut Sh. Bruckstein / House of Taswir to discuss various issues related to the role of archiving in times of crisis.

The conversation will be introduced by a performative reading of excerpts from the Lexicon created by Hala Alnaji and the Butterfly Trace Collective, by Palestinian actor Moayad Alsahli.

Hala Alnaji is a Palestinian architect, researcher, curator, and educator working at the intersection of architecture, art, and political engagement. She is a PhD candidate at the University of Westminster, London, and her work explores displacement, spatial justice, cultural memory, and counter-mapping in conflict-affected geographies, particularly Gaza and Egypt. She is the founder of Butterfly Trace Collective, a community-based platform documenting lived experiences of genocide and displacement through collaborative artistic practices.

Butterfly Trace Collective (BTC) is a collective of Palestinian artists, architects, writers, and researchers that emerged in Gaza in 2022, and expanded during the ongoing genocide. Its work combines counter-mapping, community knowledge, and decolonial approaches to create spaces for collective reflection, testimony, and cultural preservation.

Making Waves is a monthly talk, screening, and arts series in Berlin (hosted at venues like KM28) exploring themes like freedom of speech, art as resistance, and current socio-political issues.

Image:
Hala Alnaji, Nazeh’s Lexicon (2025). Installation View The Istanbul Pavilion Gaza Biennale 2025. Photo: Adam Bruckstein. Copyright Hala Alnaji.  Courtesy Hala Alnaji and House of Taswir.