Sary Zananiri | Mamilla from the West (2015) | Installation view | Photo prints on glass, radiata pine | Dimensions variable | Edition of 3 + AP | Documentation by Kerry Leonard

Unpicking Jerusalem: a re-examination of the archives takes the city’s tumultuous modern histories as its starting point, focusing on what was the city’s major commercial district – Mamilla St. Untangling the legacy of the Jerusalem’s expansion in 19th Century, through the events of the Nakba in 1948 and its radical re-envisioning this century, Unpicking Jerusalem attempts to question the hagiographic narratives that plague this pivotal space within the contested urban fabric of a fragmented city through the sculptural installation of archival and recent images. Mamilla from the West uses the mall’s contemporary entrance as window and façade to view an image of Mamilla Road c. 1900, both printed on glass. Dismembered Façade questions the effect of architectural preservation removing the ‘heritage’ façade from the contemporary shop fronts.

Part archival study, part architectural critique, Unpicking Jerusalem attempts to come to grips with the lost histories of what has now, once again, become a central commercial district for the city, while examining the slippages that have taken place.