The Story

I had only been out for an hour when I returned home. That is when I came to find a white cat lying on my bed with a fresh brood of newborn kittens. Upon investigation later on, I would conclude that she had pushed through the kitchen door and proceeded to give birth in the safety of my home.

With no other choice, I got a cardboard box and turned it into a nursery for the newborns.

I had planned to close my impromptu ‘Feline Maternity Ward’; however, unbeknown to me, the cats of my neighborhood had earmarked my home as a safe haven.

Thus, began my relationship with cats in 2008 with ‘Murjana’, who, with her kittens, introduced me to the world of cats.

The Beginning

In the evening, the cat is fed and the door left open

In the morning, you wake with the cat on your chest, gazing into your eyes

Next thing you know, you have a new roommate

The Truth

It wasn’t love at first sight; but with time you realize that…

The cat was pregnant…

She had considered the situation…

A lonesome, miserable fellow with no visitors…

The perfect place for a maternity ward!

The Family

Murjana gave birth to 4 kittens.

As time passed, there would be other births of other cats in other homes…

Batta was the most fertile… she gave birth three times

I would aid in her labor…

I stayed up many nights and knew her pain…

I celebrated the arrival of Earth’s newest creatures.

I later closed down my feline maternity ward and settled with a beautiful, sterile cat named ‘Pussy’, but I had not counted on Batta’s daughter…

She came and delivered her brood…

And yet I had not been present for the birth….

Who had told her that I was in charge of a maternity ward?!

The cats and I were alike in how we planned our lives

We are more or less the same; I speak to them in meows

We might differ in our mental capabilities and perhaps in our concepts

We may even differ culturally

But I realize that there is one thing that we humans share with cats

And that is our lonely existence.

About the Cat Project Exhibition

The Cats Project exhibition was held in the “Dar Al-Anda” hall, Amman, during the curfew period with the beginning of the spread of the Coronavirus epidemic, where the exhibition was opened in the presence of the artist and two, and the audience’s attendance was limited to watching the live broadcast from YouTube and instagram.