Suad Amiry discussed many of these same issues I was thinking about. It is interesting to hear her perspective as a Muslim woman and her image of Jerusalem. When visiting Israel, tour guides refused to allow my group and me to enter the Muslim quarter and hearing her describe wonderful sights and sounds that one might find in East Jerusalem made me feel like I have missed out a major sector of Jerusalem's culture. Suad Amiry recognizes the division that exists between Palestinians and Israelis, but I think it was naive of researchers to think they could accurately represent both sides under the same umbrella event. The researchers seemed to be overcome by their desire to express a city that they love so much. It seemed that this passion drove the project forward, even though there were undeniable issues that were ultimately impossible to overcome. The conflict is so overwhelming and historically rooted that it would have been almost impossible to accurately represent what lies at the heart of Jerusalem. It would be difficult to accurately represent any city or country to a group of people even with ethnographic research and personal experiences incorporated.
Dr. Horowitz's article explained the issues of trying to represent Jerusalem in the physical space of the National Mall, while keeping the festival authentic. The idea of bringing in musicians, weavers, and other forms of authentic craftsmanship sound wonderful at first. As this idea plays out it begins to evoke images of "It's A Small World"(cue music) at Disney, which was clearly not the ethnographers intentions. Throughout the discussions, all political involvements seemed to occur below the surface and out of the larger dialogues with governmental officials and political leaders of all types, even though they played a major role in the festival. Dr. Horowitz also raises a good point about cultural history overshadowing the archaeological or documented history of Jerusalem. It is difficult to represent a living thing to a group of people without creating a strange copy of it, similar to a likeness in a portrait. Someone will always think that the image of that person is just a little off based on an experience they have had with them directly, stories about them, other photographs, etc. I was bothered by the idea that the holy sites in Jerusalem would have been represented by cardboard cutouts at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Witnessing them firsthand whether you are deeply religious or secular is awe-inspiring.
Dr. Horowitz's article explained the issues of trying to represent Jerusalem in the physical space of the National Mall, while keeping the festival authentic. The idea of bringing in musicians, weavers, and other forms of authentic craftsmanship sound wonderful at first. As this idea plays out it begins to evoke images of "It's A Small World"(cue music) at Disney, which was clearly not the ethnographers intentions. Throughout the discussions, all political involvements seemed to occur below the surface and out of the larger dialogues with governmental officials and political leaders of all types, even though they played a major role in the festival. Dr. Horowitz also raises a good point about cultural history overshadowing the archaeological or documented history of Jerusalem. It is difficult to represent a living thing to a group of people without creating a strange copy of it, similar to a likeness in a portrait. Someone will always think that the image of that person is just a little off based on an experience they have had with them directly, stories about them, other photographs, etc. I was bothered by the idea that the holy sites in Jerusalem would have been represented by cardboard cutouts at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Witnessing them firsthand whether you are deeply religious or secular is awe-inspiring.
In Galit Hasan-Rokem's article she discussed the traditional Jewish sukkah, which was an excellent point of reference for me. It is a concept that I am very familiar with, (or so I thought) but I had no idea the extent to which different fabrics had deep connotations. It just goes to show how one tradition, which has such clear-cut meanings and rules associated with it can be interpreted entirely different by another person or group of people. I agree with Hasan-Rokem's belief that the project was based on unrealistic ideas about a joint vision or project about Jerusalem. The use of audio recordings and photographs would have been helpful for people to gain knowledge about Jerusalem, but it creates a disconnect between the culture and the person viewing it. No matter what the researchers could have done a person could be positioned near Jerusalemite culture instead of fully immersed in it.
The fact that researchers would have had six months to express thousands of years of history onto a strip of land thousands of miles away seems impossible and this, unfortunately, proved to be true. The ethnographers are not the ones to blame as they were short on funding...sketchy. The attempt stemmed from a passion about Jerusalem on both sides, but it proved to be too controversial and heated that the project failed under the guise of funds.
