Nira Pereg

Named for Ishmael, Abraham’s son, who embodies the link between the Jewish and Islam religions, the piece continues Pereg’s ongoing investigation of everyday rituals at the Cave of the Patriarchs, also known as Ibrahimi Mosque. Located in the heart of the West Bank, the Cave of the Patriarchs serves as a sacred place for both Jews and Muslims. Since the 1994 mass murder of Palestinians perpetrated by Baruch Goldstein, a Jewish settler, the cave has been physically divided between Muslims and Jews — 80% percent is a mosque and 20% functions as a synagogue.

Under close military supervision, Pereg spent one whole day following the adhan – the five Muezzin calls to prayer from 4:00am to 9:00pm – documenting the exceptional circumstances in which the ritual is conducted. She unites the gallery space and the holy site through a complex spatial arrangement, and highlights the various ways in which systems pertaining to religious belief, social norms and politics intertwine.

Pereg — whose works have been exhibited at museums and galleries around the world — is known for challenging the status quo of any territory she immerses herself in and capturing what she refers to as “spiritual bureaucracy.”

In parallel to the exhibition at the gallery, Pereg’s solo show The Right to Clean is currently on view at the Israel Museum’s Ticho House in Jerusalem and at the Rose Museum in Boston.