A photographic journey through different places that are so many possible “ideas” of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is not just a city; it's an idea. For millennia, it has been frequented by visitors of all faiths and social classes seeking to interact with its sanctity, entailing cycles of violent battles for its control, catalysing the need to relocate the idea of Jerusalem to places far from its physical boundaries. Analogous Jerusalem is a five-year photographic journey exploring these 'analogous' shrines in various landscapes, capturing the continuous topography of pilgrimage with elements belonging to mutually exclusive categories: the sacred and the profane. A threepart essay explores the translation of the sacred sites from Jerusalem to Europe, the rituals of virtual pilgrimage common among mediaeval nuns and the history of photographic journeys. Together, the images and text construct a travelogue through places that are perhaps more "real" than Jerusalem itself.
Gili Merin (PhD) is an architect and photographer based in Vienna. She taught design and theory at the Royal College of Arts and the Architectural Association in London, and is currently an assistant professor at the Vienna University of Technology. Her work uses photography to explore the politics of sacred space and the interrelations between natural and artificial landscapes.
