The Poetic of Photography, Peres Center for Peace, 2013

Curator: Sharon Toval

A day after the Knesset elections, I performed site- and time-specific work for the Peres Center for Peace in Ajami, Jaffa, a commemorative center for the legacy of Shimon Peres. As I first entered the building, I felt anger. The work was an attempt to understand why. By looking closely at the planning of the building and its relation to the surroundings, I understood the problematic use of symbols as a defense mechanism. In the work, I used questions regarding what we see to reveal this duality.

In the work, my main action was to point at different elements in the Center’s surroundings while using an M-16 rifle as a marker and ask one question: How old is the tree? How old is the Peres Center for Peace? How old is the Muslim cemetery? How old is the sea? How old is the Ajami neighborhood? The answer did not matter; the elements had already spoken for themselves. I wanted to expose the gap between the intention and the image – a center dedicated to peace that is sinful in so many ways.