FORENSIC ARCHITECTURE

Forensic Architecture kot raziskovalna agencija izvaja napredne prostorske in medijske raziskave primerov kršitev človekovih pravic, v imenu oz. v sodelovanju s skupnostmi, prizadetimi zaradi političnega nasilja, organizacijami za človekove pravice, mednarodnimi tožilci, posebnimi skupinami za okoljsko pravičnost in medijskimi organizacijami. Eden izmed oddelkov za raziskave Forensic Architecture je namenjen raziskovanju nasilja nad okoljem; enota se imenuje Center za sodobno naravo (CCN). Premisa, na kateri temelji delovanje CCN, je, da čeprav je bila narava skozi zgodovino razumljena le kot statično ozadje človeških aktivnosti, moramo danes naravo razumeti kot situiran zgodovinski projekt. V dobi obsežne okoljske škode in hitrih, antropogenih podnebnih sprememb se ‘sodobna narava’ s človeško zgodovino posodablja, prepleta in z njo stopa v interakcijo. Velik del antropogenih sprememb našega okolja je konflikt. Nasilje nad okoljem lahko poteka počasi, posredno in razpršeno, a je zagotovo vpeto v kolonialne in vojaške oblike nadvlade. V sklopu pričujoče razstave Forensic Architecture prikazuje raziskovanje izraelske uporabe vojaških herbicidov na okupiranem območju Gaze v Palestini, kjer se uničevanje okolja uporablja kot sredstvo ustanavljanja in utrditve meje. Raziskava opisuje oblike uničenja, počasne in hitre, s čimer želi razširiti način razmišljanja o nasilju v kontekstu kolonialne nadvlade. 

As a research agency Forensic Architecture undertakes advanced spatial and media investigations into cases of human rights violations, with and on behalf of communities affected by political violence, human rights organisations, international prosecutors, environmental justice groups, and media organisations. One of our research divisions in Forensic Architecture is dedicated to examining environmental violence. We call this unit the Center for Contemporary Nature (CCN). The premise of CCN is that while historically, nature has been understood as a static, eternal backdrop against which human activity unfolds, today we must understand it as a situated historical project. In the era of massive environmental damage and rapid, anthropogenic climate change, ‘contemporary nature’ is being updated alongside human history, interacting and becoming entangled with it. A large part of anthropogenic changes to our environment is conflict. Violence against the environment may be slow, indirect, and diffused but it is enmeshed in colonial and military forms of domination. In this exhibition, Forensic Architecture presents its investigation of the Israeli use of military herbicides in the occupied Gaza Strip in Palestine, where environmental destruction is mobilised as part of the production and fortification of the border. This investigation describes forms of destruction that are both slow and fast, expanding the way of thinking about violence in the context of colonial domination. 

Forensic Architecture: Eyal Weizman (direktor / Director of Forensic Architecture), Samaneh Moafi (raziskovalka, CCN /Researcher, CCN), Shourideh C. Molavi (koordinatorica raziskav in projektov Research and Project Coordination), Robert Preusse, Robert Trafford, Imani Jacqueline Brown, Stefan Laxness, Grace Quah, Sarah Nankivell

Od ustanovitve države Izrael maja 1948, kar Palestinci imenujejo al-Nakba (katastrofa), je bilo območje Gaze podvrženo praktično neprekinjenemu toku izraelskih vojaških vpadov različne intenzivnosti. Z vsakim vpadom se je vzdolž celotnega severnega in vzhodnega predela Gaze ob meji z Izraelom ustvarilo zaprto vojaško območje ali ‘varovalni pas’, ki sega preko palestinske meje. Širjenje varovalnega pasu je Gazo vse bolj izoliralo od ostalega dela zgodovinske Palestine. Od leta 2014 izraelsko krčenje in uničevanje kmetijskih in stanovanjskih zemljišč ob vzhodni meji Gaze dopolnjuje nenapovedano škropljenje s herbicidi za uničevanje pridelkov iz zraka. Izraelska vojska je razglasila herbicidno škropljenje kot ‘vojno dejanje’ za zagotavljanje optimalne vidljivosti med vojaškimi operacijami, pri čemer smer vetra izkorišča za uničevanje palestinskih polj na stotine metrov daleč v notranjost Gaze, onkraj meje varovalnega pasu. Do danes trajajoča praksa škropljenja s herbicidi iz zraka ima za posledico uničenje celih območij obdelovalnih zemljišč, zaradi česar so palestinski kmetje soočeni z ogromnimi izgubami pridelkov in je njihovo preživetje ogroženo. Dezertifikacija nekoč bujnega in kmetijsko aktivnega obmejnega območja izraelski vojski omogoča tudi večjo vidljivost pri smrtonosnem streljanju na civiliste, ki se približujejo območju. 

Since the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948, known by Palestinians as al-Nakba (‘catastrophe’), the Gaza Strip has been subject to an almost seamless flow of Israeli military incursions with varying intensities. With each incursion, a military no-go area – or a ‘buffer zone’ – has been produced along the entire northern and eastern perimeter of Gaza adjacent to Israel, extending into the Palestinian side of the border. The expanding buffer zone has increasingly isolated Gaza from the rest of historic Palestine. Since 2014, the Israeli clearing and bulldozing of agricultural and residential lands along the eastern border of Gaza has been complemented by the unannounced spraying of crop-killing herbicides by air. Declaring herbicidal spraying as an ‘act of warfare’ to ensure optimal visibility for military operations, the Israeli army mobilizes wind direction to raze Palestinian fields hundreds of meters inside Gaza beyond its imposed buffer zone. Until today, the ongoing practice of aerial spraying of herbicides has resulted in the destruction of entire swaths of arable land with massive losses in crops and livelihoods for Palestinian farmers. The ‘desertification’ of a once lush and agriculturally active border zone has also provided the Israeli army with the visibility to target civilians approaching the area with lethal force from a distance. 

Herbicidna vojna v Gazi preiskovalna ekipa / Herbicide Warfare in Gaza Investigation Team: Eyal Weizman (vodilni raziskovalec / Principal Investigator), Shourideh C. Molavi (koordinatorica raziskav in projektov / Research and Project Coordination), Samaneh Moafi (raziskovalka, CCN / Researcher, CCN), Stefan Laxness, Grace Quah, Corey Scher, Salvador Navarro Martinez, Robert Preusse, Imani Jacqueline Brown.

Z veliko hvaležnostjo do ljudi, ki so pomagali pri raziskavah na terenu, pogosto v izredno težkih okoliščinah: Shurouq Al-Aila; Roshdi Al-Sarraj in snemalna ekipa Ain Media Gaza; Samir Zaqout in Center za človekove pravice Al-Mezan; Ministrstvo za kmetijstvo v Gazi; Gisha, Pravni center za svobodo gibanja; ter Pravni center za pravice arabske manjšine v Izraelu Adalah. With deep gratitude to the people who assisted with research in the field, sometimes under extremely difficult circumstances: Shurouq Al-Aila; Roshdi Al-Sarraj and the film crew at Ain Media Gaza; Samir Zaqout and the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights; the Gaza Ministry of Agriculture; Gisha: Legal Center for Freedom of Movement; and Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel.

Bučka

Popršeno 3. decembra 2018 Nabrano tri dni po pršenju v vasi Juhor ad Dik, 31.26.55�N; 34.26.3�E

Zucchini

Sprayed 3 December 2018 Collected 3 days after spraying in Juhor ad Dik, 31.26.55�N; 34.26.3�E