Ruled Paper (red, blue, white) are reminiscent of four-lined page notebooks used in schools to practice learning to write. While the straight lines provide a framework, they also convey an impression of conformity to imposed rules. Here the lines consist of electric wires, the conduits used by global communication technologies. In some places they morph into barbed barriers evoking borders, threat and mistrust suggesting the dual nature of communication technologies both as connectors and potential sources of division. Red, blue and white recall the colours of the imperial state’s flags, evoking a legacy of colonial assertion, through the imposition of language and education systems, which this work symbolically gestures toward. As the lines distort, they give way to forms that reference maps of conflict zones such as Aksai Chin, Crimea, the Gaza Strip, Gilgit Baltistan, and the Taiwan Strait, among others conjuring up a long history of colonialist nationalist claims. Through this formal exploration, Kallat exposes the tacit ways in which our minds and perceptions can be colonised by the frameworks we are conditioned within.

The West Bank and Gaza Strip, with a combined area of 6,220 square kms (2,400 square miles), consist of the West Bank covering 5,860 square kms, including the Dead Sea occupying 220 square kms, and the smaller Gaza Strip spanning 360 square kms. These regions have been the core of the Israel-Palestine conflict for about 70 years, with Israel gaining control of them since 1967.
The West Bank, located west of the Jordan River, is a landlocked area, sharing borders with Jordan to the east and Israel to the south, west, and north. In contrast, the Gaza Strip is a smaller territory resembling a boot shape along the Mediterranean coast, situated between Egypt and Israel.
Although often referred to as the "1967 borders," these boundaries represent the historical armistice lines established under the 1949 Armistice Agreements, marking the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and commonly known as the Green Line. It's essential to note that the 1949 armistice lines were explicitly designated as armistice lines, not international borders. While some Palestinian negotiators have sought a return to these lines as the borders of a future Palestinian state, Hamas does not recognize the State of Israel. The Arab League has endorsed these boundaries as the borders of the future State of Palestine as outlined in the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.