DAR Keffiyeh
Berlin, DE 2026
Cotton, HDMI Cables, Media player, Screen, Video
120cm x 50cm
In between traditional symbols of the Keffiyeh like the fishing net or the olive branches, a new shape of a drone appears as well as a trident. In addition HDMI cable is interwoven and transports a video signal from a media player to a screen throughout the woven fabric. In the video, the the weaving pattern becomes the background of a narrative that shows how the DAR (Drohne Anti Radar), a German drone from the 80s, is adapted by Israel, South Africa, Iran, Russia, Ukraine and USA and used in most of today’s conflicts (it is partly unknown or unclear how the German plans got into the hands of some of these countries, in some cases they might have been sold and in others reverse-engineered).
The video also shows an industrial weaving machine that is specialized on weaving the Keffiyeh. The weaving machine comes from the same family that owned the company that built the DAR drone in the 80s (Dornier).
The Keffiyeh, a symbol of rebellion against colonization in Palestine but for example also in Ukraine, is woven by the machines of the same company that invented the prototype of a drone that is later used by Israel and Russia to attack the people that might wear this Keffiyeh.
In some of my work I do highlight relationships of textile machinery, arms, engineering, craft, civilian life and deadly warfare. Being related to the textile branch of this family myself, I see it as my duty to bring such hidden stories out of the shadows and show the complexity of entanglements.
Shown at Matassa Beja, PT. Curated by Antónia Gaeta and organized by Córtex Frontal and Câmara Municipal de Beja.
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