"The Jordan River basin is a large transboundary hydrological unit encompassing nearly 18,000km² across Jordan, Israel, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine. The Jordan River begins with three principal tributaries: the Hasbani, Banias, and Dan Rivers. The Banias and Dan begin in the Golan Heights and are fed by springs and seasonal snowmelt from Mount Hermon, while the Hasbani starts in Lebanon at the mountain's base. These rivers merge into northern Israel to form the upper Jordan River, which flows through Lake Hula and then into Lake Tiberias. ... Lake Tiberias was the Lower Jordan River's main source, but damming at the lake's outset reduced its flow. Today, the Lower Jordan River's primary inputs come from diverted saline springs via Israel's saline water carrier and effluent from the Bitanya waste water treatment plant .... Although recent infrastructure improvements have treated the sewage inflows, high levels of treated wastewater remain, and the long-term impacts of diversions and pollution continue to degrade the river's health."
(Talozi, Thompson and Namarneh 2025, 4-5)
The waters of the Jordan River have been termed holy for the water's ability to hold and create life in the desert region. Enmeshed in various stories throughout time, the river has become a symbol of sacredness and abundance while simultaneously a site of contestation and identity construction. Few other water bodies are as encapsulated within comparable hydropolitics and imaginaries of human relations as the Jordan River is. Its waterscapes are undeniably evocative of human touch.
On the southeastern edge of Jerusalem lies Umm Tuba, a village that looks out toward Bethlehem, the open desert, and the ancient hill of Herodion. Its houses line the slopes, surrounded by olive trees and dry terraces that still mark the traces of earlier cultivation. Archaeological findings connect Umm Tuba with the biblical site of Netophah, once known for its springs and agricultural life. The past is present in the soil, in the stone walls, and in the view that links the village to the surrounding hills.
Today, Umm Tuba lives in a difficult position between the city of Jerusalem and the expanding settlements around it. The boundaries that define this space are constantly shifting. Infrastructure remains uneven, and access to water is a recurring concern. Residents depend on deliveries and shared wells, and during the dry months, scarcity shapes the rhythm of daily life. Water is not only a practical need but a measure of inequality and control.
Across the valley, Herodion dominates the horizon. Built by King Herod more than two thousand years ago, the fortress-mound rises above the landscape as a monument to power and construction. From Umm Tuba, it is always visible, and the relationship between the two sites is complex. Herodion represents a history written in stone, while the village continues to live within a landscape where access and permanence are uncertain.
At the ridge above Umm Tuba, an installation of prints made from the waters of the Jordan River and Lake Tiberias now connects these narratives. Each print carries residues of those waters: small traces of oil, minerals, and sediment gathered from rivers that flow through contested lands. The prints are exposed to light, wind, and dust, creating a quiet dialogue with the view toward Herodion and Bethlehem.
The installation invites questions about how water and memory move across borders.
What does water retain as it passes through regions marked by division and scarcity?
How do distant rivers relate to a place where access to water is so tightly controlled?
Can the act of printing with these materials create another form of connection, one that listens to what the land holds and what it has lost?
From the mountain above Umm Tuba, these questions return to the landscape itself. The prints do not resolve them but make them visible, opening a space for reflection on what continues to flow, even when the sources seem to run dry.
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The installation was composed in collaboration with artistic director Abboud Abu Tair and Philipp Riedel.
