Zerstört

The word “Zerstört” (destroyed, in German) is inscribed into the concrete floor. Shira Wachsmann tries, in vain, to eliminate it. The words “ort” (place) and “stört” (disturbing) are still visible. The destroyed is still present.

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Shira W Zerstoert

Shira Wachsmann, Zerstört, 2016, video, 6:12 minutes

On old maps of Palestine from the British Mandate period, Israelis added new boundary markings, rewriting locations of new Jewish settlements from the 1950s. Next to Palestinian villages whose inhabitants were expelled, fled, or where whole villages were demolished by Israelis in 1948 and the 1950s, the word ‘destroyed’ was written in parentheses. Wachsmann took the word ‘destroyed’ and translated it into German, linking it to Germany’s history and the relentless process of censorship and erasure of the Palestinian people. In the video, Wachsmann is seen first filling in the word ‘Ort’ (place) with cement, then the word ‘Stört’ (disturbs), and finally, we see the entire word ‘Zerstört’ (destroyed), which Wachsmann tries to cover and erase – unsuccessfully.