Nira Pereg: Patriarchs

Tessa Giblin curated Nira Pereg/Partiarchs in 2022, showing for the first time in the U.K., The Patriarchs Trilogy (2012–2022).

Pereg's (b. 1969, Tel Aviv, Israel) multi-channel video installations were anchored in a documentary practice that revealed and questioned how people behaved in places of political, religious, ideological, and ethical significance.

The Patriarchs Triology examined one of the most revered pilgrimage sites for all three Abrahamic faiths (Islam, Christianity, and Judaism) – the ‘Cave of the Patriarchs’. It was known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Ibrahimi (‘Sanctuary of Abraham’) and to Jews as Me’arat Hamachpelah (‘Cave of the Double’). The series of subterranean chambers believed to be where the biblical prophet (and common patriarch of the Abrahamic religions) Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, along with their descendants, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, and Leah. As a sacred site, it was second only to the Temple Mount for Islam and the Western Wall for Judaism, making it a place both contested and revered by both religions. Located in the heart of the Old City of Hebron (Al-Khalil), it was situated in one of the most volatile areas in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.