Arts & Entertainment
Author to present photos and stories of art-bedecked West Bank separation wall at St. Olaf on Feb. 23
London-based photojournalist and author William Parry will present photos and stories from his new book, “Against the Wall: The Art of Resistance in Palestine.” The free event is scheduled for 7 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012, 280 Tomson Hall, St. Olaf College, Northfield.
The event is co-sponsored by St. Olaf student group Oles for Justice in Palestine and justice advocacy group Northfielders for Justice in Palestine/Israel.
“‘Against the Wall’ is a singular achievement – both a stunning photographic essay of how Israel’s concrete wall has cut into Palestinian land and strangled whole communities and a powerful visual record of how local and international graffiti artists have battered it with their only weapons, paint and spray can,” said political cartoonist Joe Sacco.
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Parry’s book documents the Israeli government’s “separation barrier,” which it began in 2002. In places the barrier is a fence; in others a wall three times the height of the Berlin Wall. When completed it will be more than 470 miles long.
Parry’s book records, in a series of stunning photographs, the art on the wall, the neighborhoods through which it passes and the lives of those it affects. By turns tragic, ironic, horrific and inspiring, the story his book tells will be the subject of Parry’s talk, a story in which art and politics collide head on.
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Parry’s visit is part of his U.S. book tour. “Against the Wall” has received excellent reviews and publicity in a range of media, including Electronic Intifada, Publishers Weekly and the New York Review of Books. Parry contributes regularly to the Washington Report on Middle East. The book will be available at the talk, which is free and open to the public.
NJP is an ecumenical group of community members who organize local events to educate and advocate for justice and peace in Palestine/Israel. For more information about the event or NJP, contact committee members Jonathan or Barbara Hill at 507-645-7329.