fotografias: Yuval Yairi
Yuval explains: 'The series of Memory Suitcases is a part of my project of investigating the subject of memory.
I took my suitcases on a photographic
voyage around Israel in an old VW van, collecting with my camera some of
the many stories left lying by the side of the road. Some
of the images 'imprinted' on the suitcases, such as that of the tree
house, echo childhood memories of Israel in the early 60s, memories
common to a whole generation born before the Six Day War. Several
of the suitcase images are of abandoned houses once belonging to
Palestinian Arabs who escaped or were evacuated during the 1948 and 1967
wars. Some of the houses have remained untouched and decaying ever
since; others have been inhabited by Jews who immigrated to Israel
following the Second World War; others still are being converted into
exclusive modern homes. All bear
testimony to a far-from-remote history that we Israelis may try to
forget, ignore or erase. Meanwhile, many Palestinians keep the keys to
these houses, just as mementos, or in the hope of returning. A
suitcase is perhaps the most potent and familiar image associated with
migration, and for many different peoples an icon of wandering and
displacement.'
