Аl khirbe
On May 14, 1948, the state of Israel was declared on Palestinian land. Since then, the territory of Palestine continues to shrink as Israel expands its settlements. One of Israel’s strategies of expansion is through the systematic destruction of Palestinian homes. In this project I recreate the demolished and dismembered houses in occupied East Jerusalem. The impenetrable glass hoods covering each house serve to freeze the moment of destruction and accentuate the problem of separation and inaccessibility.
The root of the word utopia comes from Greek, which means no place or nowhere. Al khirbe in Arabic means wreckage, ruins or ruined and shattered area. In Palestine and Lebanon, the word is used to name any place/ village where old, ruined and abandoned houses are clustered together. In this way; the virtual space becomes a «no place» resembling a cemetery containing the houses of the destroyed urban space, thus showing the destructive force of the occupation.
For the series of objects I take construction debris and combine them together through one of the traditional methods used in vernacular architecture in the Levant region.
construction debris, clay, dried leaves, water
