Title: SETTLEMENT
Medium: 2-Channel Projection
Duration of the video: 8:44 (view excerpt above)
Date: 2004
Settlement is a multi-channel video projection intending to draw attention to the water scarcity issue existing among Jewish and Muslim communities in Middle East. For this project, I worked with two women –one Jewish, one Muslim- who share the same land and natural resources to continue their existence. They both performed spiritual cleansing in their own ways before the camera sharing the same jug of water.
I believe that the water conflict is one of the main issues embedded into politics facing the Middle East Region. Living with this problem throughout my childhood, I experienced how the political, symbolic and historic essence of water and its connection to land have made compromise and agreement difficult for both communities.
With this body of work, I intend to draw attention to “water,” not only as a source and essence of life, but also a tool for spiritual cleansing in both faiths. The work is my response to a world in which water is not shared peacefully, but is rather a source of conflict.
© Tulu Bayar