I am very happy to be in the Al-Ma'mal Foundation in Jerusalem where I will be writer-in-residence for the next 10 days.
This is not my first visit to this city. I have been here several times before and actually spent part of the 90s living and working here. This puts me in the rather strange position of being able to understand ‘the situation’. Given its historical, religious and political density this apparent comprehension is quite an achievement. However, at this stage I find it best to perceive it in two ways: either as a scientist, in which case it becomes a challenging model of complexity theory, or as an artist.
Being an artist in this situation has several advantages. It liberates the individual from the frustration of causes and allows a real time analysis of effects. It provides a method to emotionally disengage from political futility and re-engage with human reality. It doesn’t remove the situation but it keeps it at a safe enough distance to maintain sanity and to construct narratives that are true to their creator and thus true to their audience. It is always a two-way process and consistently creates opportunities for constructive communication and progressive thought.
Which brings us rather neatly to Al-Ma'mal…...
This project will be a comprehensive investigation into the history of the Al-Ma'mal Foundation. While inevitably situated within the destructive political realities from which it emerged, the focus of this investigation will be the constructive cultural and social realities it generates.
Using archive images and text, interviews with founders, partners, artists, tutors and beneficiaries, this project hopes to present the work of the Foundation as a series of creative works and stages hence the notion of Al-Ma'mal as a retrospective.
The project will continue after the 10 day residency until the narrative reaches the present. It will then become a permanent archive, information and links resource as well as an ongoing project to which future residents of Al-Ma'mal can also contribute.
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