Khalil Rabah

Screening and conversation · Khalil Rabah

Within the framework of his exhibition “review” at Beirut art center, Khalil Rabah will screen for one night “the 3rd annual wall zone auction” and will present the performance “after 12 years”.

Khalil Rabah has invited art critic Kaelen Wilson-Goldie for a public conversation around his practice.

7.30-8.30: screening in loop
the 3rd annual wall zone auction 2004. Two channels, 7:30 mins each.

Human beings are connected to each other, to communities, to other species, and to the earth. As humans increasingly influence natural systems, it is critical that we understand these relationships. This understanding, in the context of contemporary events, the history of the earth and its inhabitants, guides our approach to investigation and interpretation.
In 2002 a major study in the environments of the “wall zone” was launched by the Palestinian museum of natural history and humankind examining an enormous catastrophe of life on earth, the wall zone commonly referred to as the apartheid wall, the separation wall, the west bank wall, the seam zone, Al-Jidar Al-Fasil, security fence. On March 13th, 2004 the Palestinian museum of natural history and humankind held its 3rd annual wall zone auction in Ramallah, Palestine at Khalil Sakakini cultural center.
Eight items containing natural and unnatural material from the wall zone environments were auctioned in order to seek support for the preservation, development, and presentation of “Palestine before Palestine”, an exhibition from the museum’s permanent collection.

8.30-8.45: performance report after 12 years, 2008 — ongoing [the legal case]

After 12 years is a legal case brought before the united nations and the Swiss legal system by the botanical department of the Palestinian museum of natural history and humankind on behalf of a family of five olive trees that arrived from Ramallah, Palestine to Ariana park at the united nations office, Geneva, in 1995. The case argues the trees’ legal right to be granted Swiss citizenships, since they have fulfilled the Swiss naturalization requirements for the past 12 years. The case is supported by the museum’s collection, comprehensive research, and documentation of these trees and their lives.
After 12 years brings into question issues of immigration, asylum, citizenship, naturalization, uprooting, exile, relocation, and the right of return.

8.45-9.45
Conversation between Kaelen Wilson-Goldie and Khalil Rabah