Description
In Public, 2010 is an archive project in progress, and it is currently composed of two series of
four black and white photos that investigate how citizens used to live the public space before
the revolution in Syria. In particular, by observing human gatherings on the occasion of
different political celebrations, it explores how “the people” perform their citizenship in the
public domain, within the limits of, and in reaction to dictatorship.
April 17 is a series of photos taken by a digital camera during the march of the Independence
Day. In this date, the communist party organizes political speeches at the symbolic venue of
the Golan Heights, while citizens gather together mainly for conviviality. By showing these
moments of cheerful collective dance, Namer implicitly questions the expression of
citizenship through the body tolerated by the regime and the boundaries of freedom. In
contrast, the series March 21 witnesses the Nawroz celebration, which is the New Year for
the Kurdish community and a date that was not officially recognized by Assad until 2014.
Here, through the use of the negative camera, Namer stresses her fear of shooting the gatherings, because of the tension that the regime could create. Furthermore, pushed by the awareness of the oppressive control by the state of the public space, she aims to show the deep contrast between the joy of the crowds while they play theater and music on the stage and the fragility of these moments. Indeed, these could potentially be just the last volatile instants of collective self-determination that the camera captures and archives before the repression comes. In both series, the questions of: Are the people consciously taking part by dancing and playing in public spaces, or are they just accepting the exceptional bites of freedom allowed by the regime? remain open.
