Kai Wiedenhoefer: WALL and PEACE

Good fences make good neighbors, people say, but in reality they usually make real enemies. Peace starts where walls fall and not where they are erected; the Berlin Wall is the best proof of that, says German photographer Kai Wiedenhoefer (born 1966), who witnessed its fall firsthand. Between 2003 and 2018 Wiedenhoefer made ten journeys to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories to photograph fences, walls and checkpoints of the separation barrier (which the Israeli government is still building).

From his experiences documenting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over three decades, Wiedenhoefer saw how the barrier only worsens problems in the Holy Land: the wall itself cements the assumed righteousness of the Israelis, and is an act of aggression against the Palestinians who are caged in and only become more frustrated. The wall is a paradox: it enhances the violence it is supposed to curb, necessitating more policing and fortification.