images | text

Ala Younis
Born in 1974 in Kuwait City, / Lives in Amman, Jordan

Adriano Pedrosa (AP): How did you conceive Tin Soldiers (2010–11)?

Ala Younis (AY): The tin soldier industry peaked between the two World Wars, while the Middle East was undergoing a process of remapping. Before the modern period, only children of noble households played with toy soldiers. Elaborate sets of them were presented to sons of royalty as a way of preparing them for future rule. The Middle East’s contemporary armies have yet to be rendered in toy soldier sets. Tin Soldiers is a depiction of nine armies that were implicated in, or subject to, acts of war in today’s Middle East. Produced in numbers proportional to the numbers of active troops in 2010, the armies are all cast from the same mold and hand painted in the military outfits of Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, and Turkey. The piece on exhibit consists 12,235 soldiers at a scale of 1:200. The project is part of a multistage exploration of the results of the instrumentalizing of individuals through political and economic agendas. My investigation through research and individual narratives continues to look into the alternative spaces where these soldiers, and in many cases temporary soldiers, practice or express militarism. It started when I realized that many of us are unofficial, unarmed, untrained, frustrated, raised-to-be-readymade-fighters.

AP: The work resonates strongly today, with the current upheavals in the Arab world.

AY:  It is a historical moment for  the Arab world today, a region that has been no stranger to revolutions and upheavals. Massive numbers  of people continue to storm the streets, across Arab cities, armed with peace rather than weaponry, refusing the state of submission that was forced upon them by systems that managed to stay in power for decades. With a lost faith in political parties and no heroic leaders,  young people throw yesterday’s and today’s fear back into the face of their oppressors. Nevertheless, people had learned to trust in institutions, and thus turned their eyes toward the armies. The armies have thus far either supported the revolutions by mere noninterference, or else violently fought to stop them. Again, informal, unarmed groups of passionate revolutionaries formed defense units to react to thugs and disorder. New forms of trust and tolerance have surfaced, a readiness for learning and collaboration is being witnessed. A return to proud feelings and exuberant unity is permissible. It is worth all the risks. The situation in the Arab world dictates a recalculation of all decisions. Of priorities, of open ends, of possibilities. Of quick and meaningful reaction and adaptation.