Some Sketches

Im away from Ramallah and out by myself frog-hopping from hostel to hostel on the West coast of Israel. Its strange being without Chris and Zelda and without the friends I have made in the West Bank at the Art School and beyond. I miss them all, but it is nice to travel alone for a short while and with the space to reflect on everything that has happened in the past 5 weeks. Ill be back on English soil this monday afternoon, and it feels as though it could be as good as one hour away, when the next day keeps passing faster than the last.

As i am away from the Art academys generous facilities I am unable to scan in any new ink drawings, but I have uploaded a few preparatory sketches for some possible illustrations that I have on my USB from a few days ago. they're very rough and ready so just soak up their atmosphere and dont scrutinise them too closely!

Sketch of our Apartment close to Al Manara, the central square. Our contract clocked out, so we moved out the other day. It was on the top floor of a four storey building. Disadvantage - loads of stairs! Advantage - right by the roof, where we would sit and look out at the crescent moon hanging above the streets of Ramallah, and feast on barbecues with our European friends from the first floor.

Sketches whilst on the go on the Settlers Roads of the West Bank. Roads used by Palestinians only are often poorly paved, whereas the connecting routes to the Israeli settlements are slick, quick, and generously sign-posted. The view that whizzes one by is a landscape of barren rocky hills, punctuated by a Bedouin camps (a nomadic people ostracised by both Palestinian and Israeli society that hug to the sides of the roads, rearing goats, and living in corrugated tin huts); Israeli settlements strategically perched on the hill-tops (recognisable by their orderly lines of red-tiled sloped roof houses and security walls)

;Palestinian villages (not so strategically placed) at the bottom of the hills, Olive groves, rocks, weeds, rocks, rubbish piles, stone-cutting factories...oh and rocks, rocks, and more rocks!

Sketches from The church on The mount of temptation in Jericho. The spot where Christians believe Jesus was tempted by the devil whilst wandering the desert for 40 days and nights.

The police in Ramallah are a funny bunch. They never seem in any hurry, chatting to each other, and swinging their guns around in a bored fashion. But for some reason they always have their lights flashing even when they are just sitting in traffic with everyone else.

Some sketches of a 95 year old grandfather we met when we went to one of our friends family homes in a village outside Bethlehem. He was very angry at me and Chris, over our personal responsibility for the British giving Palestine to the Jews in 1948.

-Drawings and writing by Jon.

The People's Museum

Here is a link to a great community art project run by a Danish group called YNKB in Birzeit, a village 20 km north of Ramallah in West Bank:

http://www.ynkb.dk/eng/peoples%20museum-eng.shtml

Jerusalem

in two minutes

huddled near the door on their hands and knees, heads bowed to the floor for what they believe.

so much faith, so little to see, so much weight on cheap rosary beads.

kids with guns play-fight out on the street, under the clouded eyes of police.

chris

chickpea national

'the two safety officials are watching this one closely, the prestigious 'chickpea national' will commence from their right; they're a hungry pair. Oh and we're off, course a little dry today. 'US' is off to a flying start followed by 'HO' and 'MO' trailing at the back, so much pressure on te young chickpeas today, past the halfway mark 'US' and 'HO' side by side, now wih only two furlongs to go they're neck and neck. What's this 'MO' is coming up fast he's going to run up between the leaders but NO! he's tumbled and brought them all down. all three contestants are laying in a pile just short of the finish line.

Comiserations to 'HO', 'MO' and 'US'.

The officials will have to clear this mess up.'

chris

photo: hedvig

on the road...again

Hedvig, Jon and Chris on the return from Jerusalem. a flattering photo by all accounts n'est pas?

photo: hedvig

chris

dead sea

'having a shower or taking a shower'

she quizzed

my preference whilst traveling is to have a shower, so i did. then wandered downstairs and the cab was sitting pretty in the sun. rode shotgun for the lovely old man who took us down to the dead sea, we got a little lost, the air was very hot.

there are signs warning people not to dunk their heads in the sea due to the high salt content, it couldn't be worse than your mum washing your mouth out when you were a kid though could it. turns out it's rather comparable to tear gas, fucking horrendous.

as we bobbed like four white apples on top of the water, it became clear how someone might walk on it, i wondered if the sea of galilee was salty.

we muddied up, washed down, skin felt like a million pounds, a greasy affair.

hitch-hiked on the dusty old road to Jericho. Carnival come park was a brilliant place there were camel rides, a colourfully lit fountain, it was a place where you didn't mind the awful live music cos it just came together to create a wonderfully spirited atmosphere. i had a little lay down on a bench, surrounded by chatter, had a peep at the stars before closing my eyes.

walking back we met a friend of Muhammed's he was selling ice cream, he seemed elated at our presence or perhaps on a sugar high either way he gave us more ice cream than you could shake a stick at. Jericho really is the friendliest town i know.

got the bus home and my hair was still wet from the salt of the dead sea, so i had a shower, it's as though salt can preserve any state it touches.

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*'La' means 'No' in Arabic.

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-Words and photos by Chris, drawing by Jon.

Tempting

'maybe one day'

notre dame 200?

'i'm not touching cardinal pope whatshis foot'

words from the young shell of a flippant and self proclaimed 'atheist', who silently prays on occasion, in thanks or more often when retrospectively trivial events don't go in the desired direction.

present day

the ascent to the monastery atop mount temptation: there was a warn down stone which all the serious looking people were touching. at first the same thought passed, that of which the flippant young boy had had; but then a strange, naive logic struck, a sort of 'win win' logic. it played around on the mind for a good couple of seconds, it had come a long way, so this hand did touch that stone and playing the odds might just pay off.

take in the view and a cigarette or two, birds flitter on the breeze, flirting with the cliff, and we with the concept of religion.

chris

photo: hedvig

Cafe Ramallah

through great plumes of white smoke we spoke over arabic coffee which is frankly the best thing since kinder eggs. time goes unnoticed, locals come and go, beyond the glass the light changes from shell blue to yolk yellow. sit with argileh having a little read when someone proposes a little shesh besh (backgammon) reply 'yek shamesh' for it's important to take a break, after all we're not salmon. the kindly man brings us tea with lemon, herbs and the like, we finish our game and it's back to work, oh what a life.

chris

drawing (top): jon

Work Around

After our first night in Jerusalem Besan introduced us to the Bus 18 which daily travels from Jerusalem to Ramallah, and from Ramallah to Jerusalem. We take this bus, and pass the Check point for the first time. We are not stopped. The bus just goes through easily. Besan explains, that it is no problem when coming from Jerusalem. Only when you leave Ramallah, you will have to cheque at the check point. That is when you are checked. Alright, we nod and the bus goes on, along a long, long street. At a point, we stop. Get off, and approach the Academy of Palestine for the first time. -images are to folllow.- Destination accomplished.

And beat goes on. We start with the day. Lise and Nis, two artists from Denmark introduced us to their workshop called Workaround. We meet the first students including Hedwig who is an exchange student from Norway, staying at the Academy for three months. We take our first steps into the studio, and share our first Falafel at Samer. Hello! Hello! Ramallah!

Link to the workaround blog- http://workaroundsramallah2010.blogspot.com

Evening prayer call in Jerusalem

It is evening now, and the prayer calls are calling from all around. It was a long day. Here we are on Besan’a roof top, listening to the sun going down. Besan is a student at the Academy, he is Palestinian and lives in Jerusalem. Besan was giving us a little tour, tracking down the little alleyways of the old city.

Dubka

What is Dubka? Dubka. For us all who like to dance, this is it. A traditional Palestininan Folklore dance. To mine and Hedwig’s luck, Taqi, one of the students at the Academy, is a lover of rhythms and agreed to teach us some steps. Here we go. One, Two, Three…

The Market

As though it was a little a pocket hole to peak through, the city market is located behind tiny gates along a side street of Al Manara. It’s a location that may be passed by easily, however, the shouts over Vegetables and Fruits are hard to miss. Through the gates, one is immediately drawn into this ocean of colourful foods, and hurdling people, exchanging, slapping hands and smiles. And we are called at from everyside. Marhaba! Marhaba! It took a while to figure it out, it means Hello! Hello! Welcome to Palestine! People are very friendly. Vibrant strawberries, to super sweet tangerines and the yummiest Banana’s on earth are to find. In this gathering of people, as a team, Chris, Jon and I stand out like glow worms, (particularly with Chris’s hair.) We are defiantly the easiest needles to find in a stack of hay. This attention needed getting used to in the first couple of days, it’s all fine now. And we venture the market, at Al Manara. Shukran, thank you, for these lovely foods. Sallam aleykum! Peace be with you. Aleykum Sallam, and on you be peace.

Zelda

Al Manara

The most important word we need to remember is Al Manara, Khaled, our friend that the Academy said on the first day we arrived. If you every get lost on the streets, just say Al Manara and you’ll be fine! Alllll Maaannnnnarrrra? The words role around our tongues. Al Manara. What does this mean? It means city center! Ahh okay. It is still one of the most simplest words compared to many others in Arabic. Al Manara…and we actually live at Al Manara square. Bang in the center of the city. From here we step out on the streets of Ramallah and be it morning, or evening, the streets are always packed with a buzz of people walking to work, to the market, or of those who enjoy tea or Arabic Coffee at the street stand. The streets of Al Manara are defiantly very busy. Then at night, they ease to clear into silence. Awaiting for a new tune, till the morning again. Words by Zelda, Drawing by Jon

The Journey Here and some photos from Jerusalem

After a long and tiring journey we finally arrive on the Streets of Jerusalem in the dark. We are in a sheirut. These are minibuses that lead you away from the security fortress of Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, along brightly lit and generously signposted six lane highways, whizzing past McDonalds drive-thrus; we could just as easily be in Europe or America. But we are not, we are in the middle-east, in the white elephant of Israel, the source of 62 years of tension and war...
The sheirut takes us through the winding alleyways of West Jerusalem, dropping off a mixture of English-speaking foreigners, and Hebrew speaking orthodox Jews. "It's just like Green Lanes", Chris says as the driver swiftly careens around countless men in identical black suits and black hats walking in every direction; Ultra-Orthodox Jews. They are on their mobile phones, smoking cigarettes, and buying fruit and vegetables, but they are moving so quickly and with so much purpose and all with such stony-faces. First impressions from the fragmented observations of tired and travelled eyes on a few dark streets in West Jerusalem: these people are serious!
But we are not going to be amongst these people, we are going into the West Bank, to the city of Ramallah where we will be living and studying for the next six weeks.
But before that, our next port of call is a hotel in the Old city of Jerusalem, where we will be staying for just one night, before we continue across into Occupied Palestine, through that infamous wall, with the light of day to guide us.

-Jon Lander

Where else would we find our selves, then on the rooftop of the Austrian Hospice, in Jerusalem, Old City. (This was very much, ambivalent for Zelda coming from Vienna, casually siting with Sissi and Franzl, a cup of Julius Meindl Coffee in the Old City) Aside from this. The view is amazing. And funny, as you might see in the example.

The rooftops of Jerusalem
The streets of Jerusalem
sacrificing political stance for cash flow, the Palestinian shop owners of Jerusalem sell T-shirts for a menagerie of persuasions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - The range bridges from the pro-Palestinian Handala Hoodies (Handala is a cartoon character that became a house-hold name and symbol of the resistance in Palestine. He is always drawn in the same way: with his back turned against the viewer; as if turning his back on the world in protest to the injustices he has seen) to the pro-Israeli "I heart Israel" t-shirts, to the more ambivalent mock IDF tshirts "My job is so secret, even I don't know what I am doing." (the IDF is the Israeli military)
The view from our Hotel in the Old City
Breakfast at the Hotel. Probably the first and only buffet service we will be experiencing during our six weeks!

words

Dear all.
Here a few words.
A few first impressions, and so much more underneath the surface.


With Love.
Zelda.


The sun is filling our irises, she is so bright.
And sand colors cover the streets, with a ever so bright blue sky.
It seems strange to be walking on this historical dust.
This story that is grown into peoples minds.
The history and the division.
Too strong
Too sad
Too much of a catch 22.
People here look you straight into the eye,
instead of the ground.
Straight into the face.
It is important.


And tonight I dreamt of a friend that died.
I woke up crying. And remembering the sentence I said,
She was one of us, who we lost. A Life.


It makes me realize more.
With also being here
How fragile our strings are
how important our connection is
Together we are strong
together we need safety from and for the world.
And with we
I mean every single human being,
every age, living now.
We are all dependent on one another
each others patience and mere existence.


The academy is wonderful an everybody is so friendly.
We have been here for two days, and three nights.
And it seems like so much longer.
It is powerful.

-words by Zelda. Drawing by Jon