CHS guest lecture - KEGHAM DJEGHALIAN (International German University, Cairo): 'Unboxing Gaza: Cultural Heritage, endangered archives and disrupted history(ies)'

Moderator: Karène Sanchez Summerer and Mayada Madbouly

Abstract

In 1944, Kegham Djeghalian Sr, an Armenian photographer, established Photo Kegham, the first photo studio in British Mandate Gaza. The studio gradually evolved into a key institution in Gazan society. For almost four decades, Kegham steadily inscribed the photographic history of Gaza through his social, official, political, documentary and studio photography during its turbulent transition periods under the British mandate, the Egyptian rule and the Israeli occupation of 1956 and from 1967 onwards until his passing in 1981.

The notions of disruption and disrupted histories mark Kegham Jr’s approach, his grandson, engaged in archival research. Many of Kegham’s photos were recently destroyed. Kegham’s legacy raises an urgency and calls for critical questions on ways to preserve the precarious visual histories and visual heritage of Gaza, which this talk will address.