The City of Rawabi

The video installation The City of Rawabi focuses on the work of a group of stonemasons, taking part in the building process of the new Palestinian city of Rawabi, currently being built at the outskirts of Ramallah. The building of Rawabi is a defining moment in the Palestinian narrative; the modern city constitutes a point of Revival and hope for the Palestinian population as a point of ideology, the entire endeavor of building the new city, including the manufacturing of the building materials themselves, is done on the site where the city is being built. The site includes a local quarry that operates a highly-advanced building-block factory but still keeps to the traditional craft of hand-chiseling the building blocks.

Upon first encountering this modern city I was drawn to a group of stonemasons, working daily on the site, maintaining the old chiseling craft, their monotonous work marked by the continuous sound and rhythm produced during the act of chiseling. My photographic approach and the choice of a static frame documenting the personal work station of each Stoneman aspire to emphasize and underline the repetitive activity of the chiseling craft. The sound consisting of monotonous pounding of hammer and chisel on stone, recordings done on site and soundtrack designed in advanced is intended to create an audial sphere that emphasizes the documented activity, and that allows a new space for contemplation and observation.