s Fall / Winter 06 07 - Steidl

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Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin
Chicago: Everything that happened, happened here first
Chicago is a fake Arab town built by the Israeli Defense Force for urban combat training. It is a place that is familiar to
Israeli and American soldiers but until now largely unknown outside Israel. Chicago stands in the middle of the Negev
desert; a ghost town whose history directly mirrors the story of the conflict for Palestine. During the war in Lebanon, its
labyrinth of streets and alleys were adorned with abandoned cars, imitating areas of Beirut. During the first and second
intifada its concrete walls were covered with Arabic graffiti reminiscent of Gaza city, and an additional area was
constructed to simulate the refugee camps of the occupied territories. During the first Gulf war American Special
Forces had their first taste of the Middle East in Chicago in the Israeli desert. Everything that happened, happened here
first. In rehearsal.
Complete with homes, shops, streets, mosques and a refugee camp, Chicago represents an Israeli military fantasy: an
Arab town devoid of people. It is a fantasy that was at the heart of early Zionist propaganda, expressed in the famous
slogan “A land without people for a people without land”. In an attempt to scrutinize this and other myths about the state
of Israel, photographers Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin have produced a highly original, visual analysis of
contemporary Israel. In their images nothing is as it seems. A watermelon is revealed to be a suicide bomb; a tranquil
forest becomes the site of a forensic investigation; a sniper’s lair suggests a national neurosis. Through this collection
of simulated landscapes, buildings and objects, a new perspective on Israel begins to emerge.
Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin are a photographic team based in London. Together they have produced three
photographic books: Trust which accompanied their solo-show at The Hasselbad Center; Ghetto, a collection of their
work as editors and principal photographers of Colors magazine; and Mr Mkhize’s Portrait which documented South
Africa ten years after apartheid and accompanied their solo show at The Photographers’ Gallery. Their work has been
exhibited internationally and is part of the Victoria and Albert Museum’s permanent collection. They are the recipients of
numerous awards, including the Achievement Award from the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, and have
also been awarded a number of photographic commissions. Broomberg and Chanarin also teach on the MA
photojournalism course at London College of Communication. They continue to work for a number of magazines
including The Guardian Weekend, The Observer Magazine and Life. Last year they produced their first documentary
film, commissioned by Channel 4.
Exhibition: October 26, 2006, Steven Kasher Gallery, New York.
Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin
Chicago: Everything that happened, happened here first
Text by Eyal Weizman
and an introduction by Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin
Book design by SteidlMACK
156 pages with 100 color plates
11.25 x 14 in. / 28.5 x 36 cm
Hardcover with dust jacket
US $ 50.00 / £ 30.00 / R 45.00
ISBN 3-86521-307-3
ISBN-13 978-3-86521-307-5
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