The exhibition will examine street signage in urban Africa and Israel/Palestine as an outcome of dialectic processes, short and long termed, of spatial production and attached imagery and symbolism. That is, beyond being a signifier of a spatial orientation per se.

April 2018: HIT’s Library space, Holon, Israel

Argument

The exhibition will examine street signage in urban Africa and Israel/Palestine as an outcome of dialectic processes, short and long termed, of spatial production and attached imagery and symbolism. That is, beyond being a signifier of a spatial orientation per se.

Visually and contextually, street signage in the global South normally reflects a colonial heritage of multiple European powers and post- colonial developments. However, top-down heritages have been constantly interacting with indigenous bottom-up naming systems, of the space users. We shall focus on these interactions in terms of identity/alterity interplay; and memories and counter-memories in a variety of languages. Esthetic and thematic  aspects  of  the  signage will be brought into the fore regarding generic and specific names, official and informal names, ideological and mundane names – to be read as (sub-) texts that complete and compete with each other in challenging ways.

The exhibition not only seeks for a documentation of textual inscriptions in the cityscape, but rather, through the signage, to understand the cityscape as a text produced by wider, variegated, forces. By de-colonising the field of toponymy – traditionally  governed by geographers and historians of  European  nationalism  who tend to relay on official signage and gazetteers – the exhibition strives to bring a fresh and alternative viewpoint in terms of geography and the very character of signage in question. It is also expected to advance an in-depth, qualitative and critical perspective  in area studies research, using toponymic inscriptions to gain a more comprehensive historical understanding; and, at the same time, to gain a more nuanced, situational and place-specific  understanding.

Specifications

Visual interpretations of (in)formal street signage are welcomed to be considered, from professional photographers and amateur, urbanists, linguists and passers-by. Each participant is expected to send not more than 3 images of a minimum resolution of 600 dpi, together with a photo description/analysis of maximum 300 words. A full name, country, affiliation/profession, and a short bio of maximum 50 words should be also attached. Please e-mail these to: signagexpo@gmail.com

• Submission deadline: 15 December 2017

• Decision deadline: 31 January 2018
• Exhibiting in Holon: April 2018
• Exhibiting in Bordeaux: October 2018.

Images will be fully acknowledged and photographers' rights will be fully respected. The exhibition is not for profit.

Guest curators and exhibition initiators

Dr. Liora Bigon (General Studies Department, HIT) & Dr. Arch. Michel Ben Arrous (Centre Yavné, Bordeaux) Curator-in-chief:  Ms. Michal Chill, Library Director, HIT

October 2018: To be shown in Bordeaux, France, in collaboration with Centre Yavné