Via Dolorosa, a box about the oPt (occupied Palestinian territory).

A journey that tells the story of Palestinian daily life under the abusive dynamics of Israeli occupation. The box talks about the induced strong tension in the Old City of Jerusalem, as well as in the Sheikh Jerrah neighborhood, where a handful of Israeli and international activists fighting against the continuous abuses are attacked by settlers. It also shows the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan (East Jerusalem), where a group of activists creates murals with big eyes witnessing the forced eviction of families living there. The journey also goes to Aida Refugee camp and to Al Khalil, aka Hebron, the only city in Area A occupied by Israeli settlers, well known for their extremism and violence. Palestinian testimonies tell us about the apartheid regime in which they live and where two parallel legal systems coexist to protect settlers.

Curators note:
This courageous and evocative artists’ book provides a profoundly tactile and visual aesthetic experience of community resistance to one of the world’s most glaring examples of colonialist apartheid and ethnic-cleansing. The level of human suffering and Zionist settler brutality is conveyed through many pieces of material evidence and heartbreaking first-person testimonies. Thus the artist Alessandro Parente adds another exceptional unique artists’ book to his innovative and committed on-site reportage reagarding the resilience of and resistance of peoples subject to extreme human rights violations.

The box is made of marine pine wood, veneered with olive wood (one of the symbols of the country) and is wrapped with a Kufiya made in Palestine. It contains:

– 1 tear gas shell shot by Israeli security forces in Aida refugees camp (Bethlehem).
– 1 USB with the documentary filmed in the occupied Palestinian territory and Jerusalem. Title: Via Dolorosa. 2022 30 min.
– 1 key, symbol of the right to return of Palestinian refugees from 1948.
– 1 olive branch.
– 12 analog images printed on baryta paper.
– 23 digital pictures ink jet printed on 240 grams art quality paper.
– 7 typewritten testimonials on 240 grams art quality paper.