Rawabi, 2013/14 camel jaw, gold
Rawabi, 2013/14 camel jaw, gold

Rawabi in classical Arabic means 'hilltops', a term loaded with the connotation of hilltop-settlers but Rawabi is also the name of the first Palestinian city built from scratch. This colossal project is the subject of much debate and controversy; terra forming and social engineering are happening on a grand scale with Rawabi at the center. Here, like the overturned jaw, traditional forms of savings, wealth and security, represented int he gold teeth, are quite literally being turned on their heads. The jaw here , resembling an abstraction of a bulldozer with golden diggers, stands in stark contrast to the landscape of the imagination, a perversion of a promised future, and with that, the promise of debt, concealed behind a perfect smile.