AN ANALYSIS OF COLLECTIVE MEMORY MECHANISMS AND THE AESTHETICS OF RITUALS BASED ON INFERNO BY YAEL BARTANA
AN ANALYSIS OF COLLECTIVE MEMORY MECHANISMS AND THE AESTHETICS OF RITUALS BASED ON INFERNO BY YAEL BARTANA

Summary/Abstract: Yael Bartana, one of the most famous contemporary Israeli artists, explores the topicof shaping identity within the framework of contemporary policies to preserve the memory.When referring to the present, she does not forget about the past—the cultural heritage of hernation always underpins the presented film narratives. In her film Inferno (2013), the artistpresents us with an evocative image, almost Hollywood-style in its framing and montage, of thefuture based on the myth of the Third Temple, which is important to the identity of the Jews. Inthis work, an important role is played by biblical symbols, religious rituals, mystical prophecies,contemporary Israeli society; it also includes an amazing but fully justifiable element—aninnovative religious enterprise, which is a building called “New Jerusalem” in Brazil. The authorof Inferno creates a social experiment with the help of the film, stages the reality within it, ob-serves what is happening and finally “documents” it. This article is an attempt to analyse thesubsequent layers of Bartana’s story, in order to take a detailed look at the artistic practice of theIsraeli artist. I am interested in how she uses film art to explore the relationship between memoryand events, places and objects, and how religious and social rituals can, in her view, shape collec-tive memory. She wants her viewers to ask questions and reflect upon their own identity andhistory, which is largely based on narratives constructed by social rituals.

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