Change Makers

Creator: Susanne Bosch | 2012

“Examining the concept of humanity in Jericho, Susanne Bosch — a German artist dividing her time between Belfast and Berlin — took a three-hour silent walk with 75 participants that brought them to a socialist agricultural project from the 1940s funded by the Arab Development Society. The project had a goal of establishing a self-sufficient Palestinian community that could survive without aid, debts and credit. While the ADS initiative, if largely defunct now, was an interesting one, the piece seems far removed from the original idea of a silent walk. Perhaps more interesting are the notes written by some of the participants in the walk, published on the artist’s website (www.susannebosch.de). From comments about the beautiful silence of the procession, to statements such as “Why was I created a Palestinian?”, the notes seem to indicate more about the humanity of Jericho than the investigation of the Arab Development Society. In the gallery, the artist explores the founding ideas behind the Arab Development Society. Her three-part installation features pages from a history book of the ADS, projections of video footage of the project, and a seating area with books and listening materials.”

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Untitled

Creator: Iyad Issa | 2013

“Palestinian artist Iyad Issa, exploring the idea of contemporaneity, organized a fleet of brightly-colored four-wheeled vehicles to take participants off-roading in Jericho. The cars visited desert terrain, refugee camps, housing developments built of steel, and the archaeological site of Hisham’s Palace, among other locations in the city. In the exhibition, a bright red jeep faces a wall. Visitors are allowed to enter the jeep and watch video footage of the excursions projected on the wall in front of it. The simulated tours were meant to explore the idea of Jericho as an oasis, surrounded by the existing conflict, but the sites that the jeeps visited allowed for speculation on some of the contradictions in this idea, and in the development of the city.”

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It Collapses in the Living Room

Creator: Samah Hijawi | 2013

“Jordan-based artist Samah Hijawi took on the concept of land by investigating the geological possibility of earthquakes along the Great Rift Valley. The artist pondered the consequences of all of historic Palestine disappearing in the aftermath of an earthquake. From this idea, Hijawi brought her project to Jericho’s main public square, inviting citizens to come and discuss the idea of a complete disappearance of the land of Palestine, and re-imagine their personal political solutions based on that. The artist took her public debate and placed it back in the context of the home, creating a livingroom with couches, coffee tables, a rug and a television playing footage of the political conversations.”

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Pain Killers

Creator: Majd Abdel Hamid | 2010

“The abuse of painkillers and anti-depressants in the Palestinian territories has been on the rise for the past decade. Reports have shown an increased consumption in pills such as Tramadol, valium and others in the West Bank and in the Gaza strip. The causes behind this collective inclination to abuse painkillers and antidepressants are mostly general anxiety,depression and, in some cases, sexual frustration. The Dome of the Rock has surpassed religious connotations to become the image of the capital-to-be while maintaining its importance as ‘the landmark’ of Islamic and Arab culture in Palestine. “Pain Killers” juxtaposes this sacred image of Palestinian aspirations with pain suppressing and antidepressant drugs, thus serving as a dialogue between Palestinian rhetoric and reality, fantasy and drug-altered states of mind. The work also references models of the Dome of the Rock made by Palestinian prisoners. The dimensions were calculated by dividing the real dimensions by a factor of 62, and 10,000 pill capsules were used. Size : 54 × 98 cm.”

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Ramallah Syndrome

Creator: Sandi Hillal & Alessandro Petti | 2010

“What’s wrong about having a normal life in Ramallah? Am I resisting by insisting to have a normal life in Ramallah? How to distinguish between having a normal life in Ramallah and normalizing with the occupation? Where are Ramallah’s borders? Do I need a permission to leave Ramallah? Where does Ramallah end? Am I living in a bubble called Ramallah? Is Ramallah liberal? Do you see your future in Ramallah? Do you consider your self from Ramallah? In which form do you resist the occupation in Ramallah? Is Ramallah the capital? Is Ramallah under occupation? Is there a life outside Ramallah? Is Ramallah New York? Is Ramallah Amman? Who owns Ramallah? What is Ramallah hiding? “Ramallah Syndrome” is a public intervention by Sandi Hilal, Alessandro Petti and Yazid Anani. Ramallah Syndrome is a collective that examines the side effect of the new spatial and social order that emerged after the collapse of the Oslo ‘peace process’ which was manifested in a urban psychology of ‘hallucination of normality’, the fantasy of a co-existence of occupation and liberty. The work of the collective inclines on questioning issues such as the illusions and realities of the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state; likewise, the consequence of the perpetual persistence of a colonial regime and its legacy on Palestinian national identity. Ramallah Syndrome is ultimately about the critique and potentiality associated with forms of resistance and subjugation in a colonial context. This edition of Ramallah Syndrome takes the dialogue and questions of the collective to the public spaces of Ramallah. Thirty questions printed on canvas were distributed by the artists to different coffee shops and restaurants all around the city.”

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Skin & Years

Creator: Fawzy Emrany | 2009

“The sense of waiting, and the psychological and physiological changes that take place with the passing of the years, is the theme of Gaza-born, now Bonn-based, Fawzy Emrany’s installation “Skin and Years”. In a small, white-walled room, the floor is entirely taken up with a close-up shot of the backs of someone’s clasped hands, skin, pores and hairs all vastly magnified. In the background, a voice is slowly counting in Arabic, one of a number of refugees from camps in Jordan enumerating the years from their birth into the future, the years they have been waiting for some solution to their predicament. (Khazindar 2010, p.10) Image & sound installation: 6 images exhibited at Bahrain National Museum & Institut du Monde Arab (World Arab Institute), Paris, France.”

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All the Names

Creator: Shuruq Harb | 2011

Co-founder of ArtTerritories and co-curator of Designing Civic Encounter, Shuruq Harb questions the Ramallah Municipality’s cosmetic steps towards organization.
”Commonly, streets are named after individuals upon their passing, to safeguard their legacy within the public domain. As such, these signs are open history books that locate us within the present as we navigate our urban landscapes, pointing back to different moments in time, while gesturing ideals we aspire to reach. Combined, these individual names dispersed across the city make up an eclectic registry. With repetitive utterances and regular use, they are entrenched in the everyday. Names of once iconic figures become mere references within our personal memories and associations.”

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Suspended

Creator: Mona Hatoum | 2011

“Hatoum has transformed familiar, every-day, domestic objects such as chairs, cots and kitchen utensils into things foreign, threatening and dangerous.”

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I am still standing

Creator: Majed Shala | 2009

“Installation, mixed media.”

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Martyrs

Creator: Majed Shala | 2009

“Shala is one of the founding members of Shababeek Gallery (Windows Gallery), Gaza which has for the last few years been at the forefront of promoting the work of contemporary Gazan artists, tacking political realities and creative responses.” Installation, mixed media. 

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