Epiphany, a Christian holiday, commemorates the Magi’s visit, Jesus’s baptism, and the Cana wedding. In Palestine, a unique tradition unfolds: a cross toss competition into water by a priest, where boys and men compete for blessings. The video by Muhammad Toukhy explores this custom at St. Peter’s Church in Old Jaffa, known for its rare westward orientation, provoking reflection on Jaffa’s profound link to the sea and the West, and the distinct identity of Palestinians in this enclave surrounded by Israeli settlements and the sea; a constant reminder of this connection to the sea and the fear of exile. Jaffa’s port holds nostalgia and trauma, symbolizing both hope and conflict, which is mirrored in the history of St. Peter’s Church itself.
Epiphany, 2023. 6:12 min
Muhammad Toukhy is a Palestinian multidisciplinary artist based in Haifa. His practice revolves around themes of history, trauma, and esotericism. Toukhy’s works delve into collective memory through personal experience by combining individual and mundane narratives with moments of fantasy, which serve as a method to facilitate a cathartic reimagining of traumatic memory. Muhammad has participated in various local and international solo and group exhibitions in recent years. Some of these were at the Kupferman Collection House, Lohamei HaGetaot (2023), Umm al-Fahm Art Gallery (2022), Ta’ar Gallery in Tel Aviv (2023), Crypt Gallery in London (2024), CCA Tel Aviv-Yafo (2024) and Wannsee Contemporary in Berlin-Wannsee (2023). In 2024, he began teaching at the University of Haifa.
