Shared Sacred Sites
Depo Istanbul
20.4 – 14.7/2019
Opening: Friday, 19.4
Curated by Dionigi Albera and Manoël Pénicaud

‘Abraham Abraham Sarah Sarah’ (2012) by Nira Pereg premieres in Turkey in the group exhibition “Shared Sacred Sites” opening this weekend at Depo.

Based on years of anthropological and historical research, the multifaceted “Shared Sacred Sites” project examines a diverse range of locations in the Mediterranean, the Middle East and the Balkans where the three Abrahamic religions have coexisted.

‘Abraham Abraham Sarah Sarah’ is a two-channel video installation that follows a unique event of a temporary “change of hands” of what is considered to be one of the most ancient and sacred burial caves in the Jewish and Islamic faiths, The Cave of the Patriarchs. On particular dates, in accordance with special holidays and under close Israeli military control, the cave passes hands for 24 hours only, enabling each side to have full use of all the chambers of the cave.