Larissa Sansour b. 1973

'Archaeology in Absentia' is a sculptural series of fifteen bronze munition replicas modelled on a small Cold War Russian nuclear bomb. Engraved on a disc inside each capsule are the coordinates, longitude and latitude, to a deposit of hand-painted porcelain plates with folkloric patterns buried in Palestine. With the porcelain itself absent from the installation, the bomb shells and the references they hold represent the archaeological artefacts in absentia.

The coordinates of each porcelain deposit are established during a real-life entombment performance taking place in Palestine. Fifteen deposits will be buried strategically across Palestine/Israel, in collaboration with local art institutions. Carrying the iconic keffiyeh pattern, these plates are deposited for future archaeologists to excavate. Once unearthed, they will interfere with current versions of history and in effect cause a historical intervention.