Dana Gallery, Kibbutz Yad Mordechai
May-July 2016
curator: Ravit Harari
For six months during the 1948 War of Independence, Kibbutz Yad Mordechai was emptied of its Jewish inhabitants and filled with Egyptian soldiers. Baror researched this formative period in the kibbutz’s history via a material investigation of various objects, mainly those labeled “abandoned property” (Palestinian goods left behind in the nearby area after the Jewish occupation of 1948). These include copper serving platters, terracotta jugs, and a patterned floor that Baror presents at time via photographic documentation and at other times she presents the objects themselves. However, rather than simply documenting the objects neutrally, Baror displays them through their new narratives of appropriation, i.e. how their current owner presents them. For example, a number of objects are photographed while being held up with hands visible in the frame, appendages of ownership and display.
Through these objects, Baror constructed a narrative outlining how those who were themselves refugees dealt with the property of other refugees, and how trauma – and survival – are carried through in each object.