The Development of Holy Sites, an Artist Lecture (2024 - ), performed at the New York Public Library, March 2025

This artist lecture draws from a case of modern-day sanctification-in-process of Gavra’s late great grandfather in Israel/Palestine. Over half a century after his passing, Gavra’s great grandfather’s gravesite has gained prominence as a holy site, becoming the center of a local pilgrimage practice and circulating legends about the miraculous powers of the deceased in his place of burial. This symbolic transformation of a place can be classified as a case in the phenomena of saint worship in Israel’s geographical periphery; a practice comparable to sainthood in other religious systems.

The lecture starts at a moment of encounter with a photograph Gavra found at the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) archive, depicting an old man boarding an airplane as part of operation ‘Magic Carpet’ (1949-50) that airlifted Yemeni jews to the newly founded state of Israel. Gavra will discuss the image as a possible image of her great grandfather, and the unfolding consequences and possibilities of forming this kind of relation to a photographic image.