Mlokheyye

Archive, #27 Weeds, #27 Art & Comics / By Sofia Sabbagh

Sofia Sabbagh is a community-engaged artist and illustrator of Palestinian and Irish descent, raised on Wurudjeri land. Her work draws on decolonial narratives and movements.

Panel 1: An ethereal grey and purple illustrated landscape depicts a unkept suburban stretch of grass and weeds, with dandelions and other weeds popping up through the hazy purple of the field. Far in the top right corner, a footpath stretches into the distance, with dark purple figures. One is on a bicycle, and another adult walks along holding the hand of a child. A fence or brick wall borders the footpath. Text in text bubbles reads, ‘Melbourne, the city I live in, is spotted with mallow, growing in different sizes among the winter weeds.’

Panel 2: A green field stretches into the distance. Two figures are foregrounded, and the outline of a third bending down to pick something is visible in the background. A farmer with blonde hair and a wide-brimmed brown hat addresses a woman in a purple dress and hijab, who is carrying a brown bag with green leaves poking out of it. She also has leaves in her hands. The text in text bubble at the top reads, ‘At the urban farm near me, farmer Em saw a woman picking mallow.’ Farmer Em has a speech bubble that reads, ‘What’s it for?’. The text bubble at the bottom reads, ‘With little spoken between them, Em learned that the herbs help women to heal after a miscarriage.’

Panel 3: An image of a child excitedly exclaiming, with arms stretched out toward a pot on a table with a striped tablecloth. A calm woman with dark hair is lifting the lid of the pot. Another child’s face is in the background. The text box reads, ‘Growing up, my téta fed me…’ The child at the table exclaims ‘Mlokheyye!’ The téta character says, ‘Your favourite.’ A text box under the dialogue reads, ‘At 18, I visited Palestine & learned how mlokheyye is grown, picked, & dried to last the year.’

Panel 4: A thin panel depicts a landscape in Palestine, with city skylines in the background, sandy soil and shrubbery in the foreground, with a donkey off to the side. The outline of a figure bends down to some greenery on the ground among some stones. They say, ‘It looks just like Mallow.’

Panel 5: On the left, a figure in a red shirt and dark pants, with brown hair in a bun, is depicted from behind as they kneel and pick leaves from the grass beside the road. A dark car is parked on the side of the road, in the background of the image. On the right, the same figure is depicted in three stages of preparing the leaves: washing them, chipping them, and adding them to a large pot. The figure’s hair is now down; and they smile serenely as they cook. The text boxes read, ‘One chilly Autumn day in Melbourne, I was too lazy to shop but my friend was coming over for dinner. So I picked mallow leaves from the curb, & prepared them, the way my téta would.’

Panel 6: a dark brick wall is depicted with a window through to a cozy room with a bright yellow light over a table. Two figures are sitting at the table, one with the red top and long brown hair, and the other across the table with a grey top on, and a plate in front of them. The text bubble coming from inside the room reads, ‘Don’t tell my mum but this is better than her mlokheyye!’ The artist, Sofia Sabbagh, signed the bottom left corner with a smiley face.

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