A refuge has an aesthetic of its own, while bomb shelters – literal spaces of refuge – possess their own literal and mental architecture. The concrete bomb shelters that are erected in Gaza-border communities during times of emergency are part of an extensive industry that produces white, clean-looking and meticulous volumes. In practice, these shelters are shelf products: They are portable structures that are intended to be mobilized and offer residents a respite from their stressful reality. In other words: They represent escapism in its purest form.

While these shelters are meant to be moved on demand, they aren’t really intended for dubious nomads, flexible acrobats or the tamed wild animals that inhabit the circus. The sheer weight of these shelters hints at a looming threat, a constant danger that leads the transient guest to become a permanent resident in a reality of distress.

The Escape Room installation is based on the dialogue between a shelf product and its ominous shadow; between a shelter that protects the body but has various effects on the spirit, ones to come to mind not just in war but also during peacetime.