Gaza Cowboys (After Richard Prince)?
Τhe series “Gaza Cowboys” is an attempt to investigate a possible link between a celebrated art
piece created by Richard Prince, and a martyrdom video created by an obscure Islamist terrorist
organization based in Gaza (Jund_Ansar_Allah). Both series depict images of men and their horses
and the landscape that surrounds them. The work tries to create a connection between the visually
constructed archetypes of the cowboy and the jihadist warrior and a comparison between the
established imaginary concept of the American wild west and the new visual reality that emerges
from the influx of terrorist propaganda videos from the middle east. Can Gazas “cowboys” be
appropriated into art like their western counterparts?
the story is based on the true story of the now defunct Jund_Ansar_Allah organization that in
2008 launched as series of suicide attacks in the Gaza strip using riding horses based on a
verse of the Koran that horses will lead to victory . The organization was shut down/
exterminated by Hamas one year later the only thing that is left is the documentation of the
attacks and the martyrdom videos the organization produced and are still online
this work was shown at Athens photo festival 2017
Apostolos Zerdevas
