Curator Sergio Edelsztein

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MANDATORY PASSAGE was shot over five months at the historical site Qasr el Yahud, on the banks of the Jordan River, a few kilometers north of the Dead Sea and south-east of Jericho, and within the buffer zone of the Israeli Jordanian border. Like many holy sites around the region, the site hosts more then one narrative: The jews believe it to be where, after 40 years of wandering in the desert, the Israelites crossed the river Jordan into Canaan, the land against which they were about to wage a bloody war of conquest. 

According to Christian tradition, John baptized Jesus Christ on the banks of that river. Therefore, in the Christian sacred geography of the Holy Land, it is third in importance only to the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

After the 1967 Six Day war, the site was deemed prone to terrorists' infiltration, thus declared as a closed military zone. Following that the neighboring monasteries were evacuated and the land around them mined. The only narrow passage clear of mines that was left was a service road for the military, a path of about three kilometers leading to the river from the main road. Such a military road passing through minefields is known in Israeli military jargon as “mandatory passage.- as it is the only area cleared from mines. Over the years that single clean safe road was used both for the military and for pilgrimage with special permission. 

In late 2011, the site was handed over to the care of the Israeli Nature and Parks authority and was opened to the public.

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The work investigates intersections between the many facets of the site, re-choreographing real events that took place, isolating functions and movements, giving them new roles.

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CCA Tel Aviv | Solo show

Feb 14th- April 10th 2013