‘Banality of evil’: Artist turns Gaza settler dream into disturbing installation

A couple walk up to the display window of a glass shopfront sandwiched between two estate agents in central Hove on England’s south coast and look at window ads for properties for sale - and then, the penny drops.

The posters show a villa under construction in what appears to be the devastated Gaza war zone. Something is not right.

The cognitive jolt from the experience - visible on their faces - is a result of the politically charged artwork called Villa in the Jungle A Real A-State Agent by British-Israeli artist Gil Mualem-Doron.

Inside the shop, which is run by a local campaign group, are several installations and art exhibitions spread across three rooms. 

Mualem-Doron’s work in Hove consists of a short film called Living the Dream and a separate installation featuring miniature villas on wooden plinths, a gold spray-painted log and broken Victorian tiles imprinted with Arabic mosaics scattered on the floor.

Read more: ‘Banality of evil’: Artist turns Gaza settler dream into disturbing installation