The Concept of Return

In the heart of the forested landscape of Vallorcine, a large tree becomes the bearer of an invisible memory. Its bark is gently engraved with a scannable QR code. Visitors who encounter the tree are invited to scan the code with their phones — and as they walk through the forest, an audio file plays, telling the story of one family's generations-long struggle with displacement, memory, and return.
The tree stands in silence but speaks through sound. The voice in the audio reflects on exile, ancestral villages, uprootedness, inherited longing, and the complex, shifting meaning of “return” — especially in the wake of the most recent displacement after October 7. The narrative flows like a personal meditation, yet it becomes universal through its rootedness in the Palestinian collective experience.