| Title | Stateless Sukkah |
| Year | 2010 |
| Location | New York |
| Brief | Temporary sukkah shelter |
| Notes | Competition entry for “Sukkah City”. In partnership with Gonçalo Matias |
In recognition of the sukkah as a reminiscence of the fragile dwellings of the ancient Israelites during the 40 years of displacement after the Exodus from Egypt, the Stateless Sukkah proposes a spatial symbol of all those populations who are still displaced around our globe. We propose the casting of 40 wax modules to be used in the construction of the sukkah. These modules would be cast and left to dry in several locations across New York, the displacement of this sukkah’s modules serving as a symbol of human displacement, generating awareness across the city to all those who are still refugees.
¶ Using data from the UNHCR on refugees, internally displaced persons, stateless persons and other persons of concern at the end of 2009, a rule was established upon which the height of each wax module would correspond to the number of displaced persons by country of origin. On the date of construction of the sukkah, these 40 modules would come together in a ritual. Volunteers and others involved would help carry these modules to the park for final placing and setting up of the sukkah. The weight of the plight of refugees and displaced people’s would be literally on their shoulders as they carry the heaviest module, 3.25m in length and weighing aprox. 450kg, representing in this case, the plight of over six and a half million stateless persons recognized by the UNHCR around the globe in 2009.
¶ The sukkah generated is as much a tribute to the ancient Israelites wandering the desert, as it is a tribute to all displaced populations wandering our globe today. The ritual of its construction and movement across New York before finally resting in peace at Union Park, a testament that we must all bear the burden of allowing displaced people to still exist during a sukkot holiday in the twenty first century.