H2

Date: 2010
Length: 27:00 min.
Format:  16:9
Specification: Colour, Sound

Im Stil einer Dokumentation erzählt die Künstlerin die Geschichte der kleinen Stadt Hebron im Mittleren Osten, die sich genau im Zentrum des Palästina-Israel-Konflikts befindet. 1997 wurde die Stadt in zwei Sektoren aufgeteilt: H1 unter palästinensischer und H2 unter israelischer Führung. Sharett hält sich im israelischen Sektor der Stadt auf, um junge palästinensische Frauen im Videofilmen zu unterrichten und gleichzeitig ihre eigene Geschichte über H2 zu filmen. Panoramaaufnahmen der Landschaft wechseln sich ab mit Standfotos einiger lokaler Familien, mit denen sich Sharett während ihres Aufenthaltes angefreundet hat. Die scheinbare Gelassenheit der Natur wiederholt sich in der Haltung der Leute. Sie stellen sich vorbildlich vor dem Objektiv auf, blicken zurückhaltend in die Kamera und lächeln. Sharett zeigt, wie sie beten, Tee zubereiten oder Brot backen über eine Serie von Standaufnahmen, die das Gefühl von Friedlichkeit verstärken. Die Künstlerin erzählt jedoch auch von ihren Gesprächen mit den Ortsansässigen, die klar erkennen lassen, dass dieser Frieden trügerisch ist. So erklärt eine Freundin der Künstlerin, wie man einen harmlosen Gewehrschuss von einem feindlichen Beschuss unterscheidet. Es wird offensichtlich, dass die Menschen von Hebron bestimmte Fertigkeiten erworben haben, die um so mehr das Ausmaß ihres psychischen Traumas, mitten in einem Kriegskonflikt zu leben, enthüllen.

OC

Interview:

► 1. Your video has been chosen among over 1700 festival entries to participate in Videonale 13. How central the video medium to your overall artistic production?

Is it complimentary to other media you use or do you work exclusively with video?

I’m a video artist and by now I work exclusively with video. I started with still photography, and photography leads my working process. So I’m a photographer-video-artist.

► 2. Is there a particular theme, concept or problem your art addresses the most?

My work deals with my life in Israel, with Israeli society, its conflicts and crises.
I do have a few abstract works, however most of my works are personal and political at the same time.

► 3. What artists do you relate to or find significant for your own art-making?

I don’t have one artist I relate to in my work. I’m inspired  by various media  from films to literature. I highly appreciate Abbas Kiorastami’s work.

► 4. Do you think the video medium can address social or political issues better than other art media?

Well, that’s a difficult question. The video gives us opportunities we don’t have in other art forms, as sound and moving image are integrated. So yes probably the video can address those issues better.

► 5. Art can be seen as a mirror that registers and reflects life or as a tool that transforms it. Which of the two positions is close to your own art-making philosophy?

The closest position to me is the mirror that reflects life but with the hope that through my art I can help to make a change in at least some of the viewers. I do believe that my work forces one to become more aware of the reality in which he lives.

► 6. How do you understand success in an art-making career?

Success in the art making career is when you can devote yourself to art only, and don’t have to earn your money elsewhere. Which means of course that your work is being shown all over.

► 7. What is the most difficult and the most rewarding thing about making art / being an artist?

The most difficult part is “walking in the dark” in the beginning of a project, and the loneliness in the process. The most rewarding thing is the full freedom to do what I want and love and then get the feedback from the viewers whose hearts I touched.

► 8. What are your upcoming projects?

The upcoming project is again a political work involving my life story.
A daughter to a Zionist family, I was born shortly after 1967 war- the breaking point of The Dream. I grew up with a post-Zionist pessimistic father and a Zionist optimistic mother. I can’t  reveal more, as it's still a work in progress. I don’t write a script.  I start with a raw idea and then have a long process of filming and editing. I didn’t start filming yet.

► 9. What do you do when you don't make art?

I teach video in a religious art college for women, which made last year especially interesting as at the same time I also taught Palestinian women. Besides that I do editing and filming jobs.