Image Analysis (Opinion): Darfur, Yossi Atiya & Itamer Rose


Darfur, Atiya and Rose, Video Art, 2008

Darfur is a video art piece by Israeli Artists Yossi Atiya and Itamer Rose, filmed in 2008 at the peak of the Immigrant Crisis in Israel.

Initially when I watched this film I was struck by it’s sensationalist bent, the click bait style and hackneyed approach. As students of film and television I would have expected a higher quality of output. The fact that Atiya and Rose go out and perform their actions on the street, basing them on real confrontations and real people is very striking. The camera work and rough editing ends up adding to the feel of this being a real life occurrence filmed off-the-cuff and not a set up for an art piece.

Darfur inspired me to research the political situation and legal status of refugees within Israel. In 2008, according to the UHNCR, there were approximately 1,200 Darfuris in Israel of which 600 were “without status”. The defence along the Egyptian border has been ramped up massively since then. Israel is also now operating a programme whereby refugees are paid to be flown out to Rwanda or Uganda where they usually become trafficking victims.

On first viewing I found the subject matter of refugees crossing the Egypt-Israel border hypocritical as Israel is notorious in their terrible treatment of Palestine. However, on further investigation into Atiya and Rose’s work I discovered that they had produced pieces involving the Palestinian Wall in Volleyball in The Separation Wall; discussing attitudes towards Arabs in JKA; forming a new Jewish-Arab State in The Jewish Arab State. Rose also went on to produce a film called Gaza taking the set up of Darfur but having passersby act as border police on the Gaza strip.


This piece does work if you approach it with an open mind but having more knowledge of the domestic politics of Israel ultimately does bring a deeper meaning and understanding to the work.



** During semester one of my Second Year of Contemporary Art Practice, we were set eight images to analyse in order to practice Art Writing. I will present the series backward. This is image seven. **

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