Stones of Memory, 2010
“The Palestinian diaspora of Chile is one of largest in the world outside Middle-East. This community is composed of Christians Arabs who began to flee to Chile at the end of the 19th century when Palestine was still part of the Ottoman Empire. As they suffered from discrimination, Christians Arabs migrated to the United States of America and South America.
Waves of immigration followed one after the other throughout the 20th century depending on the historical events that happened in the area : World War One, funding of the state of Israel in 1948, Six-Day War in 1967, Yom Kippur War in 1973. The last wave of immigration dated from the First Intifada in 1987 and the Second in 2000. An estimated 98 % of the Christian Palestinian community has fled the area and part of its lives nowadays in South America, mainly in Chile. In this work, I immerse myself in the history of one branch of my family that left Bethlehem in 1910 and reached Valparaiso a few months later.”
Jean-Robert Dantou
—
Hôtel Paul Delaroche
58 rue Saint Lazare, 75009 Paris
+33 1 53 01 85 85
—
