Exhibition | Ground Truth: Testimonies of Destruction and Return in The Naqab

A joint project of Zochrot and Forensic Architecture (Goldsmiths, University of London)

Ground Truth: Testimonies of Destruction and Return is an exhibition focused on two counter investigations concerning the Palestinian-Bedouin villages of Al-Araqib and Umm al-Hiran in the Naqab/Negev region of southern Israel.

The first investigation presented is based on the products of an ongoing research project – a collaboration between the inhabitants of Al-Araqib, Zochrot, and the Forensic Architecture research agency at Goldsmiths, University of London. The project aims to collect, document and produce historical, spatial, legal, and material evidence mapping historical remains that attest to the sedentary settlement of Al-Araqib’s indigenous inhabitants on their land – a moment before they disappear.

The second investigation focuses on the killings of Yaqub Musa Abu al-Qi’an, resident of the village Umm al-Hiran, and of the Israeli police officer Erez Levi on October 18, 2017, during a police raid aimed at demolishing the village to make space for a new Jewish settlement. Shortly after, the Israeli government and police claimed that Levi’s death was the result of a ‘terror attack’ by al-Qi’an, and suggested that he had links to the terrorist group ISIS.

The investigation uncovers the few seconds in which the incident unfolded, and the months-long process of investigation and exposure, telling these stories against the long-term historical context of the region.

Opening: Wednesday, October 10, 2018 5:30PM -7:30PM

///The symposium "From Res Nullius to Terra Nullius: Revisiting Indigenous Histories, Legal Systems and Land Rights in the Naqab" will take place on Thursday October 11th between 2pm-4pm, See the following link for more details:

http://italianacademy.columbia.edu/event/from-res-nullius-terra-nullius

Curator: Debby Farber, Zochrot

Principal Invistigator: Prof. Eyal Weizman (Forensic Architecture), Project coordinator: Ariel Caine (Forensic Architecture)

Project partners: Hagit Keysar (Public Lab), ActiveStills (Oren Ziv, Yotam Ronen), Prof. Oren Yiftachel, Miki Kratsman.

Al-Araqib Committee: Nūri al-Uqbi, Sheikh Sayah al-Tūri, Aziz al-Tūri, Ahmad Abu Mdigam, Salim Abu Mad'im, Awad Abu- Freih, Sabah al-Tūri, Mariam Abu Mdigam | Umm al-Hiran: Raed abu al-Qi'an, Naja abu al-Qi'an

Visiting hours: Monday through Friday 9:30AM - 4:30PM | Location: Italian Academy for Advanced Studies, 1161 Amsterdam Avenue (Between 116th and 118th Streets) New York, NY 10027 | Closing: Friday November 9th, 4:30pm

The exhibition is organized by the Center for Palestine Studies and the Italian Academy for Advanced Studies at Columbia University and co-sponsored by Studio-X Amman at Columbia GSAPP and Columbia Global Centers | Amman, The Heyman Center for Humanities, and the Department of Religion.