PRESS RELEASE
Jerusalem Film Festival
Jerusalem, Israel
11-12 July 2007
German TV ARD Nachtmagazin about Challenging Walls
Play the Challenging Walls trailer
poster in arabic ___________ poster in hebrew
________ 
http://www.challengingwalls.eu
Challenging Walls, an initiative of Berlin-based artists Walkscreen, is an art-peace project that shares the vision of bringing together in an active dialogue the diverse communities of people living within the parameters of physical and mental walls in Israel and Palestine. This project, funded by the European Commission through the EU Culture 2000 programme, is deemed to dissolve the concrete wall dividing the nations by transforming it into a silver screen that will reflect photographs of day-to-day life.
On 11-12 July 2007, Challenging Walls invites the public to join the international artists and scholars who will gather in Jerusalem, Israel for this historical event. Co-organised with INDEX (Cyprus), University of Ulster (Northern Ireland), Akademie der Kuenste (Germany) and its partners in Israel: Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, Jerusalem Film Festival and Jerusalem Cinemateque, and in Palestine, the Al Quds University, CW embraces four regions with history of walls and segregation: Germany, Cyprus, Northern Ireland and Israel/Palestine. Four teams composed of photographers, researchers, curators and cultural managers who have been working collectively towards the sharing of realities, experiences and wishes of people as they breathe their life routine in their respective wall divided environments will share the outcome of the exchanges following the theme of Walls, Separation and Cultural Representations at a conference at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute on 11 July 2007 from 16:30 -21:00
This gathering of minds will be concluded with a two-day artistic installation in the area of Abu dis on 11-12 July 2007 between 20:00 to 24:00. Using image projections on both sides of the Israeli and Palestinian wall, photo stories resulting from the collaborative work of artists’ Sibylle Bergemann, Christopher Heaney, Nicolas Iordanou, Kadir Kaba, Frankie Quinn, Michael Reitz, Steve Sabella and Ruthe Zuntz will occupy the 60-metre space of the solid concrete dividing the two regions. The installation, which will loop in a 20-minute film 160 photographs, will be projected in life-size images representing the human beings behind and beyond the walls. Through this creative presentation, Challenging Walls will attempt to bring side by side the personal realities of the different peoples from the conflict countries from varied angles, perceptions, employing different eyes and points of view.
Challenging Walls is co-funded by the European Cultural Foundation, German Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations - Zivik Project, supported by the Jerusalem Foundation and German Embassy in Israel and realised with the kind assistance from the Goethe-Institut Jerusalem and Goethe-Zentrum Nicosia.
For more information, contact Vanini Belarmino, email vanini@challengingwalls.eu or call 0544883527/0546824075.
Activities at a Glance