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| • | Memorial Exhibition |
| • | Curatorial Statement |
| • | Explanatory Notes |
| • | Pictures from the exhibition |
| • | A Selection of Shuhada's Biographies |
| • | Press Articles |
SPIRIT:
This memorial was conceptualized to pay tribute to the fallen of the Aqsa Intifada, the uprising that began in Jerusalem on September 29th, 2000. The idea was to shine a beacon of light onto the death surrounding us, to break the mind-numbing anonymity of daily death counts, and to honor the families who must live with the absence of their loved ones, and the injustice of their parting. It seemed that the humane way to honor the Shuhada was to celebrate their lives, with love and dignity. To try to see them as human beings - a boy, a teenager, a young man, a father, a grandfather, a grandmother. To try to feel what their lives encompassed, understanding their reality and dreams through an anecdote, a toy, or a photograph. The banality of each object helping to retrace a life, real and intact. Etymologically, a Shaheed is a "faithful witness". And so, each of these 100 biographies bears witness to a whole greater than their sum: An eloquent testimony to what it means to be a Palestinian, a condition transcending and determining the course of each life: For the Shuhada, regardless of age, background or geographic origin, shared the reality of lives shackled by occupation. This condition begins with a family's loss and uprooting in the Nakba, and continues with the subsequent denied opportunities, and miseries of the refugee's condition. It progresses with a litany of deprivation, servitude, interrupted childhoods, Odyssean like exiles, house demolitions, killings, injuries, and imprisonments. Even those whose lives appeared removed from the yoke of occupation, finally succumbed to its reach, with the tragic circumstances of their premature passing. Yet, these lives also portray the irrepressible human longing for freedom, and the indomitable spirit of struggle. We hope that one day we can go beyond honoring our dead, to live, as they should have been able to: Free.
CONCEPT:
This project’s idea was born in mid October 2000 amidst the gruesome daily death counts, thinking of the unknown Shuhada, their families, and the banalization of their grief.
A memorial exhibit and companion book were envisioned, life affirming in outlook, minimalist in design, andaddressing the visual and emotional senses. The visitor would not enter a necropolis, but would get to know ordinary people, taken out of the depths of forgetfulness; in a space of quiet and reflection, carved out from the tumult of death. Of concern was also giving back to each Shaheed his/her individuality and humanity.
Therefore, a few governing principles for the presentation of the memorial were set from the start: The Shuhada would be presented by order of descending age, each one having his/her own space, featuring her/his name, photograph and personal object. The objects and photographs would stand alone, on their own terms, recreating a life; without the clutter of text, or of obtrusive display devices.
Another constant concern was: What photograph would anyone like to be remembered by after one’s death. What memento would anyone want to be remembered by, to give a glimpse into one’s life?. Surely a beautiful picture taken during a happy occasion: A feast, graduation, or wedding; and surely a close, intimate object. The ordinariness of these objects thus helps recreate a real and ordinary human life, in all its simplicity, and truth.
For these Shuhada are not abstract heroes or pathetic victims, but were all ordinary Palestinians, leading ordinary Palestinian lives, and dying almost ordinary Palestinian deaths.
Adila Laidi