Performing civic spheres: aesthetic-political public appearance in the balfour protest in Israel

Abstract

ABSTRACT Demonstrating against the violation of democratic values, the Balfour Protest in Israel, practiced for almost a year during 2020–21, took the form of an intense aesthetic-political performance. This article explores its circumstances, dynamics, and nature while focusing on live performance. The protest’s public appearance was characterized by repetitive sensorial traits that formed the ground for heightened performativity in which the distinction between a political act and artistic practices was blurred. The gatherings, mainly in the Balfour area in the center of Jerusalem, adjacent to the Prime Minister’s official residence, have included collaborative activating of objects, enacted scenes, and unique characters. This playful modality, unprecedented in the local context, is interpreted with regard to a certain multiplicity of civic spheres. These spheres constitute a typology of political visions reflecting social conceptions: performing a contrarian civic sphere applied agonistically on-site through diverse groups and social movements; performing a civic sphere by correlative and yet critically reconstructed national patterns; and performing a civic sphere by creating utopian configurations. The protest’s aesthetic-political performance was a central, integral factor in the constitution of these interrelated spheres and their critical emphases on a participatory re-creation of citizenship.