Camp Pause

We know very little about why Palestinian camps are located where they are. We also know little about the trajectories of their communities. We often assume that, upon their arrival, refugees were directly transported to tents that later became “camps.” Reflecting on ideas of refuge and the sea that connects them to Palestine, we worked with four residents of the Rashidieh Refugee Camp located on the coast of Lebanon, just south of the city of Tyre. We filmed their everyday routes from their homes to the sea, each participant leading us to the final scene in which they choose a spot on the seashore. Along the way, they weave simultaneous narratives about the history of the land, their arrival, the struggle to build, and everyday life in a camp situated away from the city, bordered by agricultural fields and the sea.

Research and Art Direction: Abir Saksouk and Tania El Khoury
Camera: Karam Ghossein
Video Editing: Ali Beidoun
Sound Design: Majd Al Hamwi
Participants: Hussein al-Zaini, Khadijeh al-Masri, Hassan Ajjawi, and Zahraa Faour.
Commissioned by Dar el-Nimr for Art and Culture, Beirut.

Read our article on “Camp Pause” sharing our research findings and discussing our creative process.

Research Sources:
Interviews with Rashidieh residents, aerial photos and maps, cadastral registry, interviews with planner Nasr Charafeddine and researchers Ismael Sheikh Hassan and Lina Abu Rislan, UNRWA Camp Profile, “Refugees Living with Long-term Displacement” by Rebecca Roberts, Report about Ras al-Ain waters by The Green Southerners.

Previous Shows:
Dar el-Nimr, Qalandia International Festival, Beirut, 2016
Counter Current, Houston, 2017
Sakakini Cultural Center, Ramallah, 2017