Peace Partners

On a visit to Cairo in 1979 Dogançay photographed superimposed torn posters of US President Jimmy Carter and Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt from 1970 until he was assassinated in 1981. Three decades after the intense negotiations that resulted in a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, Dogançay incorporated the photographic images from the streets of Cairo amid graffiti and other worn publicity images, including a Pepsi logo with Arabic script, implying that American businesses profited too from the peace accord.

The red handprints in the upper right might reference a traditional sign of protection. They are also links to some of humanity’s first wall art: the hand prints in the Gargas caves in the Pyrenees. Alternatively, they may be a grim reminder of ubiquitous acts of violence in modern society.