Paper short abstract:

Intersecting with the (im)balance of the city, two radical street performers who reinterpret the armed forces in occupied Jerusalem, pave the way to an analysis of its colonial, social, political and artistic prospects, through theories of research, production, and performance in contested spheres.

Paper long abstract:

How does participatory political art performance restructure power dynamics?

I will present two characters that, being part of the militant settler colonial society, portray representatives of the regime through radical street performance. They propose new perspectives on authoritative power structures in the contested city of Jerusalem.

The White Soldier, performed between 2009 and 2014, was dressed in fully geared Israeli military uniform including a vest, a helmet, and (a plastic) assault rifle; painted white from head to toe. The distorted representation of the soldier, as he interacted with perpetrators and victims in Jerusalem’s conflictual spheres, disseminated awareness and remonstrance.

The clown Officer Az-Ulai, created in June 2020, is a contemptuous police character with soap bubbles, heart stickers, and oversized army boots. She accompanies and interacts with the police during demonstrations across various societies, and acts as a human barrier in violent confrontations. By ridiculing the powerful she aims at empowering the powerless.

The actors challenge and deconstruct the power dynamics between Palestinians, Israelis, tourists and law enforcement servicemen, and ask, in their words: “Who has the power?” and “What is [their] purpose?” Their performative acts intersect with the religious, settler-colonial, historical, political, social and artistic features of the city and its diversity. I will address the intricacy of Anthropological-Performative research in The Old City of Jerusalem, the benefits and complexities of intersectional case studies, and the ethnographic methods that allow their inquiry in one of the largest staged areas worldwide, spreading more than 400 cameras over one km2.