2013
Fairytales begin when the hero leaves home to begin his journey. The path he follows is a social one; its boundaries are those of morals and norms, and any digression from it necessarily leads to disaster. The departure from home is often rooted in a disruption in the power structure, compelling the hero to embark on a journey of struggle, survival, and independence.
Guez’s set of slides is comprised of sequential images of a road trodden daily by Palestinians leaving their village on their way to Jerusalem to earn a living, and then returning again to their villages at the days end. This road navigates around the separation wall. In contrast to the inherent promise of the fairytale path, leading the hero to his heart’s desire, this road is not paved in golden cobblestones. This daily trek, almost a perfect parallel to the concrete scar of the separation wall, is built of the living footsteps of menial existences lacking any melodrama. Guez’s gaze is directed downward, to the ground, watchfully tracing each footstep, testimony of all those who have walked before him.
Guez places himself (and us) on this march, just another link in a long chain of faceless, invisible individuals. We cannot discern what destination we are walking to, and have no sense or indication of the terrain we are crossing. Our only anchor is the road we tread, its borders blurred, and the desperate trudge along it. Trekking, however, is also part of the Zionist “knowing the land” ethos. Trips and expeditions as an assertion of ownership of the land have carried symbolic meaning for Zionism since the early Jewish settlement of the 19th century, and continue to guide the Ministry of Education is shaping its outdoor education policies. But the trail in Guez’s work does not pander to the “land exploration cult”, but rather serves as testimony to the survival of people who found themselves locked up behind a wall.
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