Al-Riyadh. 2010
Public intervention

Billboard at Al-Manara Square

Emily Jacir and Yazid Anani present Al Riyadh, a series of public interventions that explore the rapid transformation of the urban fabric of Ramallah. The work questions the correlation of the decline of the Palestinian collective political project and its resistance to colonialism with the emergence of a city entrapped by neoliberal politics, neo-capitalist structures, and complete isolation from the Palestinian community. Two billboards in the heart of Ramallah propose two fictional projects to the public. Al-Riyadh Tower is a proposition to destroy the old vegetable market and replace it with a modern Dubai style tower, promoting a clean business environment and spaces for foreign trade exchange while, replacing the intimacy, heritage, and memory of the place. The other billboard promotes a gated community emulating the proliferation of housing projects around Ramallah, with walled perimeters, surveillance cameras, and private security personnel; projects that threaten to wipe out the historic center of Ramallah and replace its architectural heritage with a housing project that looks similar to that of Israeli settlements.