Tulu Bayar

Settlement

The recent increase in violence and incendiary rhetoric in Middle East -- which in turn, only begets more violence -- has led me to think more about the water scarcity problem among Jewish and Muslim communities. As tensions rise and both Jewish and Arab Muslim communities brace for an ideological standoff, perhaps now, more than ever, there is a need for understanding and an open discourse which addresses the similarities of religious tenets and faiths rather than their differences.

I believe that the water conflict is one of the main issues embedded into politics facing the Middle East Region. Living with this problem throughout my childhood, I experienced how the political, symbolic and historic essence of water and its connection to land have made compromise and agreement difficult for both communities.

"Settlement" is a ten-minute, two channel video installation intending to create an experience for the viewer which affects as many senses as possible simultaneously. Having worked with women of divergent cultures and backgrounds and concentrating on the nexus of their commonality in my previous work, I extended this research into the realm of women with differing two religious faiths -Judaism and Islam-who share the same land and natural resources to continue their existence. With this body of work, I intend to draw attention to "water," not only as a source and essence of life, but also a tool for spiritual cleansing in both faiths.

The work is my response to a world in which water is not shared peacefully, but is rather a source of conflict.

TULU BAYAR

September 2003