Yael Bartana, A Declaration (excerpt), 2006
http://www.annetgelink.com/artists/5-Yael-Bartana/works/video/3515/
Artist Bio: Yael Bartana is an Israeli video artist based in both Amsterdam and Tel Aviv. Many of her pieces challenge the nationalism espoused by the state of Israel and she questions public rituals and collective identities of countries. She has exhibited around the world and has received numerous awards for her work, most recently the Artes Mundi Prize in the UK.
In Yael Bartana’s 7 minute and 30 second piece A Declaration, a man rows out to a rock island in the middle of the sea where there is an Israeli flag waving. The man climbs the rock, takes down the flag, rolls it up and puts it back in the boat. Then he takes an olive tree from the boat, wades through the water, and places the tree where the flag once stood. Bartana’s simple video is a strong statement about the value of peace over nationalism. The entire video represents the fight over the land. The small island is symbolic of the rather small territory which makes up Israel/Palestine. The Israeli flag represents the nationalistic claims that Israel has made to this land. And the replacement of the flag by an olive tree, a symbol of both peace and historic Palestine, is symbolic of a hope for the future of the land. A simple video with a strong political message, Bartana emerges as a critic of her own countries policies and nationalism, a position not often taken in Israel.
Video and New Media 