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Editor's Note |
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There are quite a few Israeli initiatives – by citizens or various institutes –
dedicated to documenting the slippery slope of democracy in Israel today, and
it seems their work is never done. The evidence is gathering by the minute: another seizure of Palestinian land in the holy name of “security,” another detention of a 12-year-old Palestinian “terrorist,” another distorted law, initiated by those born and bred in dictatorships, designated to silence those who believe that, without a conscience, Israeli society will perish.
"Out of all the real and imagined threats confronting us, peace and wisdom have become our greatest enemies," writes Yair Garbuz in this issue. A few elderly men and women who have not given up stand at the front line of the protest against the anti-democratic winds that are blowing here. They are the embodiment of peace and wisdom, and they are the main focus of this issue, in a photographic essay by Ohad Matalon, prefaced by a written tribute by Mr. Garbuz. In another feature in this fourth issue of Programma, democracy’s existence or banishment is examined in the case of Mordechai Vanunu, who was tried for revealing Israel’s nuclear weapons program. While Galia Yahav investigates the case, a group of artists present their own interpretation of it and Vanunu’s voice is also heard in a poem he wrote.
Meanwhile, on his first visit to Israel, acclaimed curator and art historian Hans-
Ulrich Obrist sat down with Moshe Gershuni to talk about his life in art. We are
proud to present you with their conversation.
If the center cannot hold, perhaps the answer lies in the periphery. Five curators working at the five main museums in Israel’s periphery talk about how location can create an alternative artistic theme that challenges both itself and the art world’s mainstream.
And, in an attempt to show how productive, constructive dialogue can still exist, Shira Ben-Simon takes a look at The Greenhouse Project, which brings together filmmakers from conflict-ridden countries around the Mediterranean with surprising results.
These are just a sampling of what awaits readers in this fourth issue of Programma magazine. In mixing the local with the international and the personal with the political, we have tried to bring the world closer to this region in which we live, while dreaming about how the place we live in can be closer to the wider world. These are difficult times, and we hope that Programma has reflected some of the challenges and hurdles we face, while showing the work of those who try to make the world better – through their art and their hearts.
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The Programma Team |
Editor: Rachella Sandbank
Graphic Editor and co-editor: Lahav Halevy
Producer: Dalit Nemirovsky
Content adviser: Noam Segal
Copy Editor: Anat Rosenberg
Translator: Talya Halkin and Miriam Talisman
Graphic Design: Shachar Cotani,
BigEyesAgency
Marketing and Advertising: Dafna Barnea
Printed in Israel by: A.R. Printing Ltd.
Publishers: Mati Broudo
and Dalit Nemirovsky |
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Contact us:
info@programma.co.il
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Prologues |
DOOMED
¬ Lahav Halevy
On the assassination of actor and political activist Juliano Mer-Khamis. |
The Nation in Illumination
¬ Jaromir Jedlinski
Polish curator and art historian Jaromir Jedlinski on the choice of Yael Bartana
as the representative for Poland at the 54th Venice Biennale. |
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New Horizons
¬ Drorit Gur Arie
The artist Yosef Joseph Dadoune has chosen to return to his hometown in the Negev desert, and to collaborate with local residents on implementing his vision. |
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A VOYAGE TO THE HEART OF THE REALITY TRAUMA PARKING LOT
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Mati Shemoelof
Avi Ganor’s photographs are infused with a sense of dread and laughter,
which is the flip side of the most menacing of all |
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AN UNHOLY TRINITY
¬ Dr. Etan Bloom
The artist Yosef Joseph Dadoune has chosen to return Three artistic directors have a monopoly over Israeli theatre. The anti-democratic implications go much further than the world of theatre
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Features |
The Body Was Always There ¬ Hans-Ulrich Obrist
During his first visit to Israel, curator Hans-Ulrich Obrist sat down
with Moshe Gershuni to discuss his prolific career as an artist.
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Being Human is Not Temporary ¬ Yair Garbuz
These are the people who have participated and will participate
in demonstrations as long as they can. These are the people who do not
succumb to fatigue and physical weakness. These are the people
unwilling to say that they have done what they can. |
Size Matters ¬
Noam Segal
The three contemporary artists featured here all produce large-scale, highly impressive works - from Jodie Carey’s extravagant chandeliers to Diana
Al-Hadid’s gigantic constructions to Mika Rottenberg’s massive spaces. |
Public Dancer ¬
Andreas Schlaegel
At 31, artist Klara Liden is conquering the world while making existing rules look obsolete, if not completely powerless. From her earliest works, Liden has shown an intense interest in self-contradictory norms of social behavior, which she challenges in performative inventions and by creating counter-institutions. |
Vanunu Photographs and Is Photographed ¬
Galia Yahav
Mordechai Vanunu has been located within the structure of the field
as one dispossessed of the right to speak, and of all means of expression.
This position has been imposed on him, above all, to camouflage
the regime of the field to which we are all subjected. |
Unforgivable ¬
Ben Ronen
Anyone interested in learning about Mordechai Vanunu’s complex and unique character should watch Vanunu by Nissim Mossek, who for the past four decades has been making films in an attempt to change the world – much like his protagonists. |
My father Bleeds History ¬
Elias Maglinis
The Interrogation, by the Greek author Elias Maglinis, tells the story of a
daughter that mutilates herself for “art” and a father who was tortured for real.
The author traces the complexities of personal and collective memory that led him to delve into the bloody history of his country. |
Under a Blazing Sun ¬
Merav Perez
It’s present at weddings, furnishes balconies and it plays an integral role in cafes, government offices, at PTA meetings and even at memorial services.
What does the monobloc chair say about Israeli culture? |
The Margins of Non-Conformity ¬
Danielle Zilberberg
What influence does a museum’s location have on the art exhibited within it?
Five curators of contemporary art museums located in Israel’s periphery discuss the problematic nature of location, and the possibility of creating an alternative artistic theme that challenges both itself and the art world’s mainstream. |
Group Therapy ¬
Eitan Buganim
Group projects seem to contradict the nature of art-making. At present,
however, quite a few art collectives are alive and kicking. Three noteworthy
groups view collaborative projects as the ultimate form of creativity. |
The Story of the Other Eye ¬
Shira Ben-Simon
The Greenhouse Project, an initiative that enables documentary filmmakers
from conflict-ridden countries around the Mediterranean to work in a supportive and stimulating environment, has recently begun its second term. |
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Artists in residence |
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Hillel Roman
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Ohad Matalon /
Michal Na’aman /
Aharon Ozery /
Shai Ignatz
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