Karst Contemporary Art Review on "Notes On Displacement"
Entry date and time
29/09/2023
15:39
I visited the Karst Contemporary Art Gallery yesterday and this is my take on the video installation by Khaled Jarrar called "Notes On Displacement". To start I arrived there and went to look at the artworks on display they were really interesting and some were hanging from the ceiling as well as others were arranged like what I can describe as a garden display. I was quite confused by them at first but found out that they were about different things such as; Climate change, something called the Apartheid System of racial segregation and different conflicts and war affecting people. That's when I came across Khaled Jarrar's work it was about people moving from a place full of war and conflict to look for refuge and safety in Germany and other places in Europe.
I found the video piece personally distressing because there was children and families constantly being moved through the country, and being made to sign random papers that they didn't know were about. It was stressful to watch, as you could see they were rushed and put in these camps with poor conditions. The camps were surrounded by large metal fences and there was no water and the food was bad making people sick, his footage captured them protesting about the conditions which was entirely fair as I thought the camps were far from comfort and disgusting. I thought it was cruel to them as they just wanted to be away from the war and in a safe place. There was also a part where a young boy was filmed describing the bombings and killings he witnessed, which made me feel slightly disturbed because the children shouldn't be exposed to something like that. The video editing also really engaged me because there was very little cuts in the footage letting you see the raw emotions and experiences of the people there as well as the lengths of waiting and traveling captured taking me along in the journey, letting me take in each moment.
Looking back on the video I remember thinking how it's unfair that they have to live in such bad conditions where as, we are fortunate to live in a safe country, with a warm bed, clean drinking water where we can feel safe. These people are trying to survive on a constant battle for peace in a unstable environment, where they are shown constantly questioning where the next location is, having to travel in complete darkness through the night. The footage that was filmed at night was mostly too dark to see anything but he kept it in the film despite that. As a viewer this left me questioning what was about to happen to the people and if they were safe. In the parts set in the camp he used close up angles of people, also moments where he panned around the background filming people sitting down and some sleeping on the floor showing the true conditions. As well as lots of the children sleeping and playing in the background, showing how unaware they were or what was happening. There was a part where he was recording but the camera was hidden under a blanket showing that it wasn't supposed to be filmed, I read the subtitles showing that there was a man arguing with an officer saying he was in the wrong camp this really demonstrated the difficult situations people were in.
I learned that things like this are still happening and that there's still a constant battle for freedom and peace all over the world. This gave me an incite as the one of many problems going on around us, it made me feel helpless watching the suffering in the video and we forget it's going on. This piece was really inspiring because despite it making me feel helpless it made me think about the world and what was happening around me. I found that this video really stayed with me compared to the other artworks I viewed at Karst, this is because looking at a still piece of art I found it hard to interact or engage my thoughts into it where as a video such as this one had stronger impact on me, it showed different personal accounts and views ranging in different age groups, different genders and occupations.
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