Qalâat Al-Husan (Hippos)

Dor Guez
Qalâat Al-Husan (Hippos), 2022
Digital video

Qalâat Al-Husan (2022) was filmed in ‘Hippos’ on the shortest day of the year. ‘Hippos’, a historical basalt stone built city, is currently an archeological site located between Syria and Israel. The now abandoned city, since its military use, has seen a revival of flora and fauna previously considered extinct. The soundtrack of the video work was composed by recordings of the females from a rare bat species as they navigate at night looking for prey above the basalt city. The movement of light and camera throughout the video varies in cadence, evoking gun turrets scanning for a target, navigation devices, or the frantic commotion of a battlefield. The work also includes the most prominent first modern maps of Palestine were made by German researcher Gottlieb Schumacher dating back to 1885.