Mohammad Saleh
PalestineFebruary 2019 – on-going
Mohammed Saleh is a Permaculture designer, activist and educator who holds two degrees in both Psychology and Musicology. He has been working in the field of sustainability for about a decade. During his five-year stay in Turkey, Mohammed operated and managed an off-the-grid ecological educational center in the Iğde Mountains of Çanakkale which lit his passion for self-sufficient living. As soon as he came back to Palestine, he founded, Mostadam Eco Design, an eco social enterprise that provides ecological solutions through implementation, education, design, and consultancies tailored to fit the local culture, climate and challenges.
In the last years, Mostadam has brought innovative methods in greening the urban environment, bringing nature back to the city, and hearts of the people, using various techniques like vertical gardens, the Top Pot, small food forests, edible landscaping and Aquaponics (soil-less farming) both to schools and the private sector.
In 2016, Mostadam presented the art installation 'Yaleekom', which was commissioned by Qalandia International (QI) and Ramallah municipality, in which he demonstrated five models of self-sufficiency to the refugee camps context, all based on up-cycled gardens. Followed by the cooperative visual art project 'Refuge Garden' as part of QI 2018 on the mobile garden one finds a home and a refuge in. Lately, Mostadam has been leading, certified Permaculture courses, international projects and developing along with academicians the EcoPonics system.
For his Dar Jacir residency, Mostadam will be planting the seed of the first Urban Farm in Palestine, a case study that aims to address the concerns of the farmers we provide training to, as well as create a model of a financially viable farming operation which is free of harmful synthetic chemicals on a small piece of land in the middle of the city.
Supported by the A. M. Qattan Foundation through the “Visual Arts: A Flourishing Field” project funded by Sweden.
