The Cave of the Patriarchs
Ibrahimi Mosque
2018
Two-sided drawing, 1:20, 162*87 cm
IN STATU QUO: Structures of negotiation
The Israeli pavilion, 16th Venice Biennale, 2018
Tel Aviv Museum of Art, 2019
Curators: Tania Coen-Uzzielli, Oren Sagiv,
Deborah Pinto Fdeda, Ifat Finkelman
Photos: sarale-gur-lavy
Together with Stav Dror
The Cave of the Patriarchs in the Old City of Hebron embodies a unique spatial protocol which ensures coexistence. This Herodian-era monument includes a series of subterranean chambers sacred to both Judaism and Islam, each gaining full use of the space for ten days a year. In this swift and carefully choreographed changing of hands, unexpected collaborative actions define 'objects' as ideological and territorial agents. Two plans of the cave depict two distinct interiors in two distinct events - a synagogue, and a mosque - overlapping in space but not in time. The cutting plane is set to the highest point possible while the drawing neglects traditional drawing standards and abolishes all hierarchies between figure and ground. The image describes a world over which every interior element has equal hold. By disregarding line weight conventions, viewers are provoked to closely ‘scan’ the drawing and decipher the fragile interior condition that allows two religions to inhabit one place.
