A Declaration, 2006

'A Declaration' takes place in the southern seashore of Tel Aviv, on the invisible border between that city and Jaffa. The Israeli flag waves on 'Andromeda’s Rock', which alludes to the Greek mythological figure sacrificed by her parents to save the kingdom, following her mother's sin of pride. A young man rows a boat carrying an olive tree and replaces the Israeli flag with the tree. One cannot ignore the charged meaning of this specific tree in both Israeli and Palestinian societies. The name of the work attests to the action itself: on Andromeda's Rock, Bartana replaces the Israeli flag with an olive tree. While this is indeed an act performed in a media context, it nevertheless takes place in the sphere of Israeli reality.