Inspired by the 500th anniversary of the founding of the first Jewish Ghetto in Venice, Italy, GER/The Stranger explores the duality created by the identification of “The Other” and the potential for intercultural compassion. Drawing on two of the Judaism’s fundamental principles—reflecting upon text as a lens of insight into our existence and cultivating empathy—phrases of sacred text engraved on the sculpture’s two glass beakers in Hebrabic/Arabrew^© (an overlay of Hebrew and Arabic created by the artist) advocate compassion and humility as the reconciler of coexistence:

“The stranger shall not lodge in the street: I will open my doors to the traveller” (Job 31:32) and “Love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 10:19).

In an era of where international ideologies are shifting towards exclusion and segregation, the sculpture’s juxtaposition of objects and symbols from diverse belief systems invites us to consider the dynamic of otherness/coexistence—an inherent state of humanity that transcends time, cultures and geography—in relation to ourselves, as well as our perception of those who are, in some respect, different from us—be it race, sexual orientation, religion, nationality or gender identity.