B O O K  &  E X H I B I T I O N

The book will put together around one hundred images that reflect Jerusalem as captured in the collective memory of Palestinians of different ages and generations and from different regions across the world who live in the Diaspora due to the occupation.

The photographic recreations will be presented together with accompanying texts that describe the images and the special visual relationship Palestinians have with Jerusalem. Biographical notes will also be included and as to whether they have had the opportunity to see Jerusalem in person or if they developed their ‘image’ of Jerusalem from the visual memory that was sustained by the former generations of Diaspora Palestinians.

In addition, the book will feature various texts and testimonies on Jerusalem contributed by some of the most distinguished Palestinians artists and intellectuals, and will be edited by poet Najwan Darwish. The book will enable the rediscovery of the image of Jerusalem held in the Palestinian collective imagination and memory, the transformation and reconstruction of theses images, and the examination of relevant questions.

Jerusalem has become the focus of a vast number of existential questions. In addition to Jerusalem’s unique symbolic importance, the city is also at the core of the broad Palestinian experience, especially concerning the dialectics of exile and home, and the idea of home and the way home. The book will be a depository of these matters through the wide participation of Palestinians from across the world, and the contribution of their own personal experiences.

At the conclusion of this book project, the images and the compiled texts will be presented in an exhibition that will be inaugurated in Jerusalem and will eventually tour internationally.