A Failed Confession Attempt | Re-enactment
Alaa Abu Asad presents two video works that explore his reality and sense of community through his family.
‘A Failed Confession Attempt’ documents his aunt’s family on a picnic at a beach next to a village called Az-Zeeb (الزيب). The village, however, is now empty after its inhabitants were expelled from their homes during the 1948 Palestinian exodus. Abu Asad’s silent annotations are juxtaposed with the joyous scenery, highlighting the generational differences that the artist experiences within his own culture. In doing so, the video unveils the delicate ethics of reusing certain places that have historical and traumatic values.
‘Re-enactment’ introduces an old photograph taken in the 1980s in Former East Germany, followed by a staged scene that attempts to recreate that same photograph. Abu Asad directs this re-enactment from behind the camera as a means to gain intimate insight into this side of his family.
