Adi Boutrous | Umm el-Fahm Art Gallery

Adi Boutrous’ video performance is set in the Benedictine Monastery of Abu Ghosh, a structure built upon Roman ruins and the remains of a Crusader Church, which features twelfth century frescoes illustrating biblical scenes. The protagonists of the frescoes are faceless, their expressions damaged by the natural processes of time and by vandals, who sought to erase the representation of human figures. The performance is a response to the erasure of these images: their absence becomes a trigger that prompts visual representation and documentation. The aesthetic staging of the three protagonists’ bodies, aims not to disrupt the setting but rather to engage with it. Their movements, as well as their pauses, convey the impression that they are immersed in a non-verbal exchange with the space and at times blend into it. Yet the dialogue between their bodies and the structure also strives to transcend the boundaries of the location’s specificity. To achieve this duality, sounds which accompany the performance are a combination of religious tones, the results of the performer’s movements, and the muezzin’s call to prayer from the nearby mosque. The narrative, rooted in the religious frescos and their location, receives as much attention as does the movement. The body serves as a medium that bridges between the physical and spiritual, and moments of contact among the dancers provide tangible expressions of both ethereal intimacy and submission.

Cast: Jeremy Alberge, Uri Dicker, Adi Boutros | Photography and editing: Dor Even Chen | Sound design and editing: Dor Even Chen, Adi Boutrous | Costumes: Stav Struz Boutrous

The work was produced with the support of the Mifal HaPais Council for Culture and the Arts, and supported by the Yehoshua Rabinovich Tel Aviv Foundation for the Arts, Tel Aviv. Special thanks to the French Institute in Israel and to the Benedictine monastery in Abu Ghosh.

Exhibition review in the press