art and war

We began this morning with Bracha by considering ourselves. We went around the room again saying our names and a few words about our dreams, goals, plans. This became a discussion of art and life, and then, more deeply, of wit(h)nessing through Bracha’s work at the Israel/Palestine border. With others, particularly mothers of soldiers, she helps — well, people. I’m looking for a more specific, descriptive term, but they are most simply people: Israelis and Palestinians moving around the border, trying to reach family, to find peace, to simply live without being beaten or killed. Bracha names her work as wit(h)nessing — she offers therapy, and/but also intervenes politically and completely on the ground, helping individuals work through systems, bearing witness to their sufferings and troubles, being with them in this act: not speaking for them, not using them as examples or political ploys, but attempting to really know them and represent, intervene, indeed wit(h)ness their lives.

During her sessions (and throughout other times), she creates in her notebooks -- not the standard therapist note-taking, but creations of art, drawing, words, concepts.


In the midst of discussion, attempting to encapsulate these scenarios, restarting her sentence a few times, struggling through languages and emotions, she eventually spit out, with traces of anger, sadness, resistance, acceptance, exhaustion and hope:

We live in a world that is just fucked up.

Here's a link to some of her work -- Brother's Photo.