PROJECT

Archive

B’Tselem is the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. Since 2007, the organization has been operating its Camera Project, which distributes video cameras to Palestinians in high conflict areas in the West Bank. The project aims to provide an ongoing documentation of human rights violations, and to expose the reality of life under occupation to both the Israeli and the international public.

Throughout the work process, Zaides reviewed and selected footage that was filmed by volunteers of B’Tselem’s Camera Project. On stage, he examines the bodies of Israelis as they were captured on camera, and focuses on the physical reactions to which they resort in various confrontational situations. The Palestinians remain behind the camera, nevertheless, their movement, voice, and point of view are highly present, determining the viewer’s perspective.

Although the footage reveals a local reality, Archive raises broader, more universal questions: what is the potential of violence embedded in each individual body, and what price does the collective pay for governing the other. Zaides extracts and appropriates gestures and voices of fellow Israelis. He identify with the footage and engages in it, gradually embodying it. The mimetic choreographic practice raises questions of participation and responsibility as Zaides’ body transforms into a living archive.

Archive was premiered at Festival d’Avignon, 2014.

Arkadi Zaides

1976 ◊ BY, BE, FR

Arkadi Zaides, an independent choreographer; born in Belarus in 1979, he immigrated to Israel in 1990 and currently lives and works between France and Belgium. In Israel, he performed in several companies such as the Batsheva Dance Company and the Yasmeen Godder Dance Group before embarking on an independent career in 2004. Zaides holds a Master’s degree from the Amsterdam Master Of Choreography program at the Theater School in the Netherlands. In his work, Zaides addresses social and political issues, he previously focused on the Israeli/Palestinian context, and is currently concerned with the European one. Zaides’ artistic practice aims to initiate critical debate, concentrating on the body as a medium through which social and political issues are experienced most acutely. His performances and installations have been presented in numerous venues, dance and theater festivals, museums and galleries across Europe, North and South America and Asia.

Credits

Archive material: volunteers for the "Camera Project" of B'Tselem - The Israeli Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories Iman Sufan, Mu'az Sufan, Bilal Tamimi, Udai 'Aqel, Awani D'ana, Bassam J'abri, Abu 'Ayesha, Qassem Saleh, Mustafa Elkam, Raed Abu Ermeileh, Abu Sa'ifan, Oren Yakobovich, Nayel Najar ◊Concept and choreography: Arkadi Zaides ◊Video consultant: Effi Weiss, Amir Borenstein ◊Sound art & voice dramaturgy: Tom Tlalim◊Artistic advice : Katerina Bakatsaki◊Assistant choreography: Ofir Ydulevitch◊Costume: Adam Kalderon◊Light: Thalie Lurault◊Remote control interface: Pierre-Olivier Boulant ◊Technical direction: Etienne, Exbrayat, Yoav Barel◊Sound technician: Cyril◊Communal production: Yael Bechor◊Special thanks to: Myriam Van Imschoot◊Produced by: Arkadi Zaides◊Co-produced by: Festival D’Avignon (FR), CDC Toulouse (FR), Theatre National De Chaillot (FR), CNDC Angers (FR) ◊Residencies: STUK Leuven (BE), CDC Toulouse (FR), CNDC Angers (FR), Theatre National De Chaillot (FR), WP Zimmer (BE) International distribution Key Performance