FREE | No Reservation Required
Camp Pause was on view through December 14, 2018 | Mon–Fri: noon–4:30pm
Bryn Mawr College
Rare Book Room in Canaday Library, 1st Floor
101 N Merion Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
Sometimes, living by the sea is not a choice.
Little is known about why Palestinian refugee camps are located where they are. Little is known about the trajectories of their communities. It is often assumed that, upon their arrival, refugees were transported to tents that later became “camps.”
For Camp Pause, the Dictaphone Group worked with four residents of the Rashidieh Refugee Camp on the coast of Lebanon, south of the city of Tyre—a camp that has existed for generations. Reflecting on ideas of refuge and the sea that connects them to Palestine, these resident led the film crew from their homes to the sea to a spot of their choosing on the seashore. Along the way, the residents weave narratives about the history of the land, their arrival, the struggle to build, and life in a camp situated away from the city, bordered by agricultural fields, the sea, and a checkpoint.
The four videos play simultaneously in a pristine gallery space, and audience members are able to switch viewpoints and audio.
Video Installation by Dictaphone Group Research and Art Direction Abir Saksouk and Tania El Khoury Camera Karam Ghossein Video Editing Ali Beidoun Sound Design Majd Al Hamwi Participants Hussein al-Zaini, Khadijeh al-Masri, Hassan Ajjawi, and Zahraa Faour Commissioned by Dar el-Nimr for Art and Culture in Beirut.
Read Dictaphone Group’s article on Camp Pause in which they their research findings and creative process: “As the members of Dictaphone Group, our personal and artistic interests center on examining marginalized places, peripheral to the capital, and to discuss our relationship (and right) to access the sea and enjoy it as a place open for all.” Full Article
Additional support for Camp Pause has been provided by Bryn Mawr College Special Collections and the Friends of the Library.
Photo by Tania El Khoury.
Schedule during Gardens Speak:
September 12*–16, 19–23, 2018
Wed–Fri: 12pm–10pm Sat, Sun: 2pm–10pm (Gallery hours)
*Opening event September 12 at 5pm Conversation with Abir Saksouk and Tania El Khoury