The Palestinian circus school intertwining political stories and grassroots social work

Many of your photo essays capture a Palestine that is different to that portrayed in the media. You avoid the violence and hardship which is often stereotyped upon the country and instead focus on smaller, intimate stories.  What is it about these stories, which appeal, and how do you find them?

Palestinians are generally portrayed in the media as either ‘aggressors’ or ‘victims’ – yet outside these stereotypes little is revealed about Palestinians as people and the multiple complexities of daily life.

My interest is the context – the moments, days or years before and after the sensational ‘media moment’ and the wide-reaching relationships between political realities and human experience.

 

Students at the Palestinian Circus School, Birzeit, Ramallah, West Bank, Palestine © Rich Wiles
Students at the Palestinian Circus School, Birzeit, Ramallah, West Bank, Palestine © Rich Wiles

 

I don’t avoid violence or hardship but I look for different ways to express it. All of my stories are multi-layered. The circus school for example intertwines political stories and grassroots social work within a contemporary art form. The colour images in my ‘Turning the Clock Forward’ project are not instantly sad or full of pain, yet they are exploring a story about a community that is struggling against more than 60 years of forced displacement. So the link between political context and human response is always present.

The world has changed since the grainy images of the Vietnam War shocked people around the world. The day after the invasion of Iraq began in 2003, I remember overhearing people discussing the TV images of US-UK missiles flying towards Baghdad as though discussing a Hollywood film. I think we have (sadly) become anaesthetised in some ways to images of suffering given the bombardment of imagery in today’s world. As a documentary photographer I look for alternative ways to explore the story although all my work remains politically and socially engaged.

You have been quoted as saying “Art is a part of a culture of change”. How does photography fit into this statement and how do you personally use art as a tool of change in Palestine?

My practice explores various ways that art can be used in a socially engaged context within both personal and participatory projects.

My participatory photography work in Palestine began following discussions with volunteers from a youth centre in Aida refugee camp who were interested in using photography with their members. The idea was to use photography as a tool with which refugee children could express themselves and their realities, and to subsequently create exhibitions through which the children could be ‘heard’ internationally. Photography could then become a vehicle through which these young voices could get past the walls and checkpoints that surrounded them.

 

Students at the Palestinian Circus Scool, Birzeit, Ramallah, West Bank, Palestine © Rich Wiles
Students at the Palestinian Circus Scool, Birzeit, Ramallah, West Bank, Palestine © Rich Wiles

 

I continued to develop this project with Lajee Center (www.lajee.org) for several years, working with many children, and producing several collaborative books and exhibitions. Eventually, former project participants became trainers of the next generation. This sustainable element was essential, without it any potential long-term benefits could have been lost if the project fell apart without my input. ‘Cameras for kids’ type projects have become popular now, yet if used in social contexts I worry about the ethics of some projects which could end up becoming more about the lead photographer and less about real benefit for participants.

Work produced by children and youth at Lajee has been exhibited widely around the world and has won various awards, but most importantly continues today. One participant is today doing some press photography whilst others have studied media or art. This model has been implemented within other communities as well.

 

The Palestinian Circus School was amongst the participants in Palestine's biennial contemporary arts festival - Qalandiya International - in October and November 2014 © Rich Wiles
The Palestinian Circus School was amongst the participants in Palestine’s biennial contemporary arts festival – Qalandiya International – in October and November 2014 © Rich Wiles

 

My participatory photography projects are founded in the belief that photography can amplify previously unheard voices and can subsequently be a tool in a much wider process of change. However, I have heard such work described as ‘giving a voice to the voiceless’ – to me this notion is rooted in cultural imperialism. Everybody has a voice, and people in the majority world do not need do not need a ‘privileged westerner’ to give it to them. It is ‘selective deafness’ rather then voicelessness that is the core issue, and if photography can amplify voices and challenge ‘deafness’ then its role is significant.

My ‘personal’ practice also sees this belief, and human collaboration, as fundamental to its production. In this case I see the collaborative aspect as the time spent away from the camera – listening, talking, sharing. This time becomes equally as important as the split second in which the shutter is released as it is this process which informs photographic decisions. To me these processes become paramount in creating images. Art then builds relationships and communication from which eventual collective action can become part of the process of change.

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