Jaffa Street, Jerusalem

Face2Face in front of my place
Those pounding pavement in Israel and the Palestinian Territories this past week may have noticed some odd adornments peering out at them from all imaginable corners. Part of a massive street art campaign to humanize Israelis and Palestinians in one another’s eyes, The Face2Face Project was conceived and executed by JR and Marco, French and North African artists respectively, who drew inspiration for the project on their first visit to the region in 2005. In just three days, early last week, the pair covered areas of the West Bank, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv with portraits of Israelis and Palestinians they’ve snapped over the last two years, pasting images large and small in areas both highly and barely trafficked. Pulling a page from the Banksy playbook, JR and Marco also covered both sides of Israel’s highly controversial separation barrier, placing images of Palestinians on the Israeli side and Israelis on the Palestinian side. The team plans to release a book this summer documenting their work. A video presentation introducing the project can be viewed here.