Hands on visual remains: Palestinian images following looting and destruction

This PhD by practice examines Palestinian images and recording equipment that have survived Israeli looting and destruction and exist today as the remains of a plundering. It assesses how violence changes the nature of not only what has been plundered, but also what has survived, which in turn alters how Palestinians relate to their own images and objects. To study and assess objects that have survived plundering and the interaction of these objects with subjects—that is, individuals who have been dispossessed—a new methodology, Hands on Visual Remains, was developed through this work, as existing methodologies were inadequate to respond to the particularities and needs of the research. It is a practice-based, creative methodology in which subjects put to use objects of research with the aim of finding a new use for them and producing a new experience out of the ruins. The outcome of the research engagements between subjects and objects of research has led to the staging of an exhibition of visual remains of plundering, the restoration of four films that survived the looting of the Palestine Cinema Institute in 1982 and their release back into public domain, and the making of a short video essay using images that have survived looting and destruction. The exploration and its findings are presented in this thesis through chapter cases studies that examine what it means to work with fragments of visual remains of plundering instead of an actual image or a film; the ethical dilemmas that arise from such interactions; and the value for the dispossessed, today, to connect with media objects, photos and films that have survived plundering. This is the first time that this subject has been addressed in the literature.