Bat Colony: Documentation and Storytelling in the Digital Age

  • Date: 24 May 2023, 14:15–16:00
  • Location: English Park, 4-2007
  • Type: Seminar
  • Lecturer: Rachel Gottesman and Dan Hasson
  • Organiser: CDHU
  • Contact person: Victoria Yantseva


Following  the peace agreement between the State of Israel and the Kingdom of Jordan in 1994, the Israeli Army cleared a series of bunkers along the Jordan Valley and the whole area became a mined demilitarized zone. Near the Christian baptism site of Qasr el-Yahud, not far from Jericho, stands one of these deserted bunkers, locked away from all human presence. 13 years after it was sealed, two researchers discovered that the bunker turned into a shelter for endangered insect-eating bats, previously believed to have disappeared from the country. Following the discovery, the entire chain of abandoned bunkers was explored, and endangered bats of 12 different species were discovered in all of them, hundreds of thousands in total. The talk will present a multidisciplinary documentation project of the Qasr el-Yahud bunker, which includes Lidar scanning, ultrasonic audio recordings and video editing. The project was presented in the exhibition Land. Milk. Honey. showcased in the Israeli Pavilion at the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale 2021.

Dr. Rachel Gottesman is a historian of the ancient Mediterranean world, with a special interest in environmental history and spatial theory. Dan Hasson is an architect, exhibition designer, and lecturer. Both are working at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem.

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