The SABBATH Project

The Sabbath Project focuses on the closing down of the ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in and around Jerusalem on the eve of the Sabbath. In most parts of Jerusalem, public access to the ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods is blocked by means of temporary barriers, which stay put for 24 hours;

thus creating an artificial border between these areas and the rest of the city.

The barriers are put in place by neighborhood residents, with the approval and support of the Jerusalem municipality and the police. Once the barriers are erected, no cars are allowed into Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods. The city is thus topologically transformed into two cities: with and without cars. Although the value of these somewhat rickety barriers may appear symbolic above all, their presence is a source of friction and conflict as they delineate a clear-cut boundary between the sacred and the mundane.

Due to their repeating variations once per decade, the works reflect a certain kind of trans-historical repetitive time- both through the ephemeral quality of a religious belief and its anticipated merger with reality’s actual time and territory. In The Sabbath Project Pereg initiates a photographic ritual, creating a parallel filmic ceremony in response to a religious ritual- as for Pereg the event is the placing of a partition, while for the religious inhibitor of the areas, it is a minor procedure, enabling another event, the religious ritual.

While in the first iteration of the Project, Soil, Pereg places, and questions her own existence in relation to the placed barricades, in its preceding sequels, she documents and preserves an independent reality, one in which she is an active participant by observing and preserving.

The inherent repetitive nature of the work’s production suggests an archival perspective, reinforced by Pereg’s declared intention to produce a new version every decade; giving the Art a phenomenological function, and producing a historical consciousness within spaces and time.

THEOS & KRATEO

2018 | Jerusalem ISRAEL
Video dyptich| 4 min 35 sec.each | Edition of 7+2AP

The title of the video diptych THEOS & KRATEO comes from the etymology of the word theocracy originating from ancient Greek θεός (theos), meaning "god", and κρατέω (krateo), meaning "state rule".

Theos

The video diptych THEOS & KRATEO revisits the scenes of SABBATH 2008, a decade after it was filmed, constituting the third chapter of the artist's ongoing research into the ways in which public spaces in Jerusalem are denoted and restricted due to religious ideology.
Pereg's second iteration on the phenomenon looks into the core of the events by paralleling the domains of the two prevailing authorities--civilian and state. The barricade, shown in THEOS, is enacted by civilian orthodox Jews; while the other, in KRATEO, is executed by local police according to a state protocol at the prominent Bar Ilan Junction in Jerusalem. As of this date, this is the only street in Israel closed by the police for religious reasons on the eve of the Sabbath.
With a single-shot stage-like perspective, the videos are symmetrical in composition and duration.

The work emphasizes the performative aspects particular to each location.

This 'theater of the absurd' is accompanied by a disharmonious stereo score created by an articulated Foley technique often used in Pereg's work. In THEOS & KRATEO, one instrument is associated with each object which appears on the 'stage'. Police cars, metal barricades, stones, chains, and even an abandoned street sign participate in the event and each item receives its own sound characteristic to orchestrate the depicted events. The assigned sounds are provided by instruments familiar with traditional Jewish music: including the tambourine, clarinet, and violin. Other sound textures incorporate the wail of the vuvuzela, an instrument originally used by crowds at football matches and which has since migrated to political demonstrations. These disparate sound profiles escort the various objects’ movements, creating DADA-like 'music of chance' soundtrack.
The result of this multi-modal installation is a hybrid of unorthodox modern music scored to a Jewish musical tradition rooted in orthodoxy, pointing to a possible absurdity sparked by the close and intimate union of both civil and religious authorities.

Anchor 3

Filming & Editing: Nira Pereg | Sound design : Nati Zeidenstadt | Post: Tal Korjak

Sabbath 2008

Media

Haaretz: Heb

אמנות | ביקורת אמנות- תוספת שבת TWILIGHT ZONES
אבי פיטשון
נירה פרג מציגה: איך הופכים ערימת מחסומים משטרתיים לחוויה אמנותית נעלה
בתערוכתה החדשה ממשיכה פרג לחקור התנהגות אנושית בסיטואציות טעונות פוליטית.
מבט-העל שלה מחליף קלישאות עבשות של התנגדות והיא מספקת
הצעה משלהבת להמסת גבולות

PODCAST | Heb.

״לשם שמיים״

פודקאסט התרבות של בית הנסן - מרכז לעיצוב, מדיה וטכנולגיה 14/09/2021

רונן אידלמן ויונתן אמיר מארחים את נירה פרג

נירה פרג – לומדת מחסומים ומפרקת אותם״"

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5wKx07fLfUxxE2PohCl9S7

SABBATH 2008

2008 | Jerusalem ISRAEL
One Channel Video | 7 min 13 sec.loop | Edition of 7+2AP

sabbah 2008

Anchor 2

The work SABBATH 2008 documents the closing down of the ultra-orthodox neighborhoods in and around Jerusalem on the eve of the Sabbath in the year 2008. The inclusion of the year in the title of the work suggests an archival perspective, reinforced by pereg’s declaration to produce a new version every 10 years. Thus SABBATH 2008 is a photographic ritual by itself, a ritual preceding the event which proceeds the religious ritual.

In most parts of Jerusalem, public access to the ultra-orthodox neighborhoods is blocked by means of temporary barriers, which stay put for 24 hours – thus creating an artificial border between these areas and the rest of the city. The barriers are put in place by neighborhood residents, with the approval and support of the Jerusalem municipality and the police. Once the barriers are erected, no cars are allowed into Jerusalem’s ultra-orthodox neighborhoods. The city is thus topologically transformed into two cities – with and without cars. Although the value of these somewhat rickety barriers may appear above all symbolic, their presence is a source of friction and conflict; they delineate a clear-cut boundary between the sacred and the mundane.

Filming & Editing: Nira Pereg Sound design : Nati Zeidenstadt | Post: Tal Korjak