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Phil Collins, they shoot horses, 2004. Photo by Brain Slater.

they shoot horses (2004)

Against the backdrop of a plain, stuffy room, two groups of young people dance without rest in a disco dance marathon. For the duration of the gallery opening hours, two videos play out this non-stop movement to a string of ubiquitous Top 40 tracks. Wearing jeans and t-shirts, the uniform of modern young people everywhere, at first it is impossible to locate them. However, these young dancers are Palestinians in the Israeli occupied city of Ramallah. Their dancing suggests both cultural translation and a wider question of cultural imperialism, and offers a stark contrast to the militarised images associated with life in the city. But the politics of the piece are more poetic than overt, revealing mundane beauty in adverse conditions.

Phil Collins, they shoot horses, 2004. Photo by Brain Slater.

Phil Collins, they shoot horses, 2004. Photo by Brain Slater.

Against the backdrop of a plain, stuffy room, two groups of young people dance without rest in a disco dance marathon. For the duration of the gallery opening hours, two videos play out this non-stop movement to a string of ubiquitous Top 40 tracks. Wearing jeans and t-shirts, the uniform of modern young people everywhere, at first it is impossible to locate them. However, these young dancers are Palestinians in the Israeli occupied city of Ramallah. Their dancing suggests both cultural translation and a wider question of cultural imperialism, and offers a stark contrast to the militarised images associated with life in the city. But the politics of the piece are more poetic than overt, revealing mundane beauty in adverse conditions.

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