Anna Drupka

I see religion as a parallel reality. The world in itself which has certain rules to follow. It is a complete designed world, in itself. Most religions will include a prayer, meditation, fasting and food restriction for the well- being of the body and mind of its followers. Even with the differences between Islam, Judaism and Christianity; their hand gestures in rituals and prayers are quite similar. This led me to question if hand gestures inspired by religion, with the use of water as a medium, can bring me to a moment of contemplation, relief or calmness which is often achieved via prayer. I designed a repetitive hand movement, which was performed several times in Jerusalem with the participants of all of the above mentioned religions. All of these faiths have a very strong presence there. Jerusalem is the Holy City after all in Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.

The rationale behind the developed sequence of movements is to experience a cross- section between all three religions. There is a commonality between them and I had decided to communicate that with the language of hand movements and with water as the medium.  The act is my tribute to all of the people which I had the chance to meet when I lived in the Middle East. That time and experiences are encapsulated in my performance.