The Road to Jerusalem 2011
I attempt to ride a bicycle from Ramallah to Jerusalem. Unfortunately, my journey is interrupted by a concrete wall. The bicycle is cut, flipped and welded back together.
The Israeli-Palestine separation barrier is a seven-hundred kilometre concrete wall which divides the Palestinian territories from the rest of Israel. In the town of Bir Naballa, it was built directly across the road - like a prop in a slapstick comedy. This split the community in two, making it impossible for some families to meet. This once busy commercial town between Ramallah and Jerusalem became a wasteland.
This work explores the position of a white English tourist in the turmoil of the West Bank. Enjoying his privilege of unrestricted movement, he is idiotically unconscious of the apartheid that divides this militarised state.
Media : Adapted bicycle, digital video, transcript of a conversation with Israeli border police
Exhibitions : Al Mahatta (Ramallah), The Art Foundation (Athens)
The Israeli-Palestine separation barrier is a seven-hundred kilometre concrete wall which divides the Palestinian territories from the rest of Israel. In the town of Bir Naballa, it was built directly across the road - like a prop in a slapstick comedy. This split the community in two, making it impossible for some families to meet. This once busy commercial town between Ramallah and Jerusalem became a wasteland.
This work explores the position of a white English tourist in the turmoil of the West Bank. Enjoying his privilege of unrestricted movement, he is idiotically unconscious of the apartheid that divides this militarised state.
Media : Adapted bicycle, digital video, transcript of a conversation with Israeli border police
Exhibitions : Al Mahatta (Ramallah), The Art Foundation (Athens)