Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige
Landscapes of Khiam
2006-2007
| C-prints mounted on aluminum dibond | 89 x 120 cm
The photographs in the series Landscapes of Khiam were taken
at the detention camp of Khiam in southern Lebanon. The camp
was run by the occupying Israeli army and the South Lebanon
Army (SLA), a local Lebanese militia. Following the withdrawal
of the Israeli Army from the south in May 2000, the camp was
dismantled and turned into a museum. During the war of July
2006, it was completely destroyed. When visiting the camp's
site, one is surprised by the extent of the damage, but also
by the extraordinary dramatization of the destruction. Protruding
from the ruins, where the buildings that once stood are now
razed, are boards that bear photographs of the camp as it
was when it was still in use. These boards, which were erected
by the local authorities, transform the site once more into
a museum. In the nuanced set-up captured in the photographs
of Landscapes of Khiam, memory's connection to history and
to the image is put into question.
Born in Beirut in 1969, the art duo Joana Hadjithomas and
Khalil Joreige explore landscapes that have been destroyed
to look at what lies hidden beneath the surface, the challenges
faced in living in the present and in thinking about the past,
and the relationship we have to representation, especially
visual.
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