ניסרין טחאן ועדן אבו דאלו
Nisreen Tahhan and Adan Abu Dalu

Distorted Voluems

In the last few years, the underground scene in Palestine has developed in a diversified way in the area of music, art, and culture.This scene is reaching across borders and maintaining a collective identity. It is representing a group of influencers who are artists, intellectuals, activists and individuals who manifested themselves in resistance and rebellion. These artists are united by their identity whether political, social, gender, etc. despite the political reality. The underground is the voice of the Palestinian millennials who have a unique voice that is overpowered by the mainstream. It is important that their voice is heard and is accessible. Where: We’ve mapped the underground scene in Palestine and found that it is concentrated in three main cities; Ramallah, Haifa and Bethlehem. We also identified the spaces where the underground meets the community and found that the spaces act as hubs and incubators for those influencers. The mapping revealed that the spaces are instrumental for the existence of the underground and we decided to consider them as influencers. We scanned the seven most prominent places in the three cities. WHY: Through the mapping we identified a number of influencers, but for the purpose of the project we interviewed 14 artists whose work is related to sound. By interviewing these artists we understood how distorted the Palestinian underground scene. The scene is fragmented as a result of the occupation. These artists are divided by the separation wall, checkpoints and the military rule. The restriction of movement caused by the geographical barriers between the West Bank, Gaza, Jerusalem and historical Palestine limits the collaboration between the artists and the interaction between the artists and their constituencies. HOW: Our main goal is to build an interactive website for these communities, bringing them together in a collaborative liminal platform.