Reminiscent of the famous and now commercialized 1977 “I ❤ NY” campaign or the now junked “I amsterdam” letters installed and later removed in 2018, the Ramallah Municipality crafted its very own jumbo city-slogan “WeRamallah” at the same time the Amsterdam one collapsed. Still standing in place and a direct inspiration for more fluorescent structures to inhabit several other cities in the West Bank, the letters became a sardonic manifestation of the limbo state of Palestinians. City branding for a ‘de facto capital’ and red and white LED lights jammed in the heart of a drab reality; the structure ventures into irony and this online souvenir store is a continuation. Bikh City Souvenir is a cautious glossary and a loving critique of local Palestinian anomalies and symbols of societal instability and clash under ongoing military occupation.
