An Shimin Striet: Angels
An exhibition presenting portraits of youth from the Jericho hills, Bedouin boys, and boys from the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, without naming individuals or specifying geographic locations. The photographs integrate wild landscapes as an inseparable part of the characters’ identity and historical belonging. The name “Malakhi” echoes a biblical connection and reflects a duality between beauty and unrest.
An exhibition presenting portraits of youth from the Jericho hills, Bedouin boys, and boys from the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, without naming individuals or specifying geographic locations. The photographs integrate wild landscapes as an inseparable part of the characters’ identity and historical belonging. The name “Malakhi” echoes a biblical connection and reflects a duality between beauty and unrest.
Alongside portraits of youth residing in the Jericho area who belong to the fringes of the Gush Emunim movement, photographs of Bedouin boys from the region are displayed, as well as portraits of boys living in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Shtriet does not separate them by noting their names or geographic locations. She rejects conventional identifying details, through which we create order and hierarchy in the world, making it difficult for the viewer to categorize the photographic subjects into familiar categories of nationality and ethnic identity. Against the beauty and tenderness emerging from many of the images, a sense of restlessness and discomfort creeps in.
The desert landscapes and wild nature complement the syntax of the works in the exhibition. They do not serve merely as a backdrop for the figures, but constitute a significant space where the boys' identities and worldviews take shape. The desert spaces bestow upon the figures an aura of rootedness and historical belonging. The title of the exhibition, "Malakhi" (Angels), also echoes the biblical connection to the place. It suggests a guardian and protecting angel, but also recalls the prophet of wrath whose book closes the Twelve Prophets. This duality permeates the entire exhibition, granting it inner power and poetic intensity.
