Untitled (We live)
2002
The work is displayed as part of the permanent exhibition
Photography
From the series Bethlehem and Ramallah, April 2002
Colour c-print
40.6 x 50.8 cm
Edition 3/7 and 2 Artist’s proofs
Purchase, 2004
Inv. No. 520/04
An artist and activist, Emily Jacir investigates unknown historical narratives, and the influence of information on the shaping of collective memory. Following a conceptual approach, her works (photos, videos, installations and performances) are often based on multi-year interdisciplinary research, and raise socio-political issues such as the movement and displacement of populations, borders and boundaries, loss and resistance, with particular reference to the Palestinian question. Ιn the photographic series Bethlehem and Ramallah, April 2002, Jacir presents photographs that depict the enormous scale of the disaster which was inflicted on the West Bank as part of the Operation Defensive Shield, the largest military operation in the region since the Six Days War in 1967. During this operation, Israeli troops besieged Arafat’s headquarters in Ramallah as well as Bethlehem’s Basilica of the Nativity, where hundreds of Palestinians fled into, seeking refuge.
Anna Mykoniati, text from the catalogue of the permanent exhibition ENTER EMSΤ. Collection & History, A short guide, 2020