Emily Jacir
Crossing Surda (a record of going to and from work)

Artist
Emily Jacir

Title
Crossing Surda (a record of going to and from work)

Year of creation
2002-2003

Technology and duration
2-channel video installation, color, sound, 132:00 min, text

Year of acquisition
2022

Gifted by Barbara and Axel Haubrok

Emily Jacir (*1970 Bethlehem, PS, lives in New York, NY, US and Ramallah, PS) deals with questions of translation and movement and resistance in film, text and photography, in installations and performative works and silenced historical narratives – particularly against the backdrop of the colonial history of the Mediterranean. The 132-minute two-channel video installation Crossing Surda (a record of going to and from work) is a shocking document of Palestinian reality in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. For eight days, Jacir documented her daily walk to and from work with a hidden camera. The installation consists of a projection with sound in real time and individual sequences that are shown in slow motion on a separate monitor, separated from the soundtrack. The images, secretly filmed with the camcorder, are evidence of the daily hardships of crossing the Surda checkpoint, guarded by armed soldiers, on the only road that connects Ramallah with Bir Zait University and around 30 other Palestinian villages.

– Gabriele Knapstein