Keren Farago and Ashkan Roayaee

Opening: Saturday 1.1.2022, 11:00-13:00

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Curator: Anat Lidror  

On Saturday, January 1, 2022, the Givat Haviva Shared Art Gallery will open a joint exhibition inspired by the world of dance and born of dialogue between two artists who met and communicated on social networks. Keren Farago is an Israeli artist who embroiders and writes in black ink on a background of pages from old books from the worlds of Hebrew poetry, plants and geographical maps; Ashkan Roayaee is an Iranian photographer who left Iran by way of Turkey and settled in Houston, Texas, and produces meticulous studio photographs of dance and dancers.

Farago, a former dancer who follows dance photographers on Instagram, discovered Roayaee's photographs, began drawing from them and as a result, they began to follow each other; Roayaee, who was moved by the fact that an Israeli artist draws his photographs against the background of Hebrew texts, told Keren that he is Iranian. The mutual inspiration and great love for the world of dance as well as the fact that they both incorporate several forms of art in their work, contributed to the development of the relationship, their work and the mutual influence that grew stronger over the two years of global Covid crisis.

The exhibition Peace Dance is currently running simultaneously in Houston, Texas (https://www.instagram.com/p/CW6ePhBM-mP/?utm_medium=share_sheet) and in Israel, with certain pieces featured in both, but most of the works are divided between here and there; Two exhibitions that together form a joint exhibition that is displayed simultaneously on two different continents.

The exhibition(s) seeks to open boundaries that exist between people, countries, cultures, thoughts and feelings, and let the dance world lead us into the broad spectrum of possibilities between unity and separation, similarity and difference, war and peace, on the basis of respect and cross-fertilization of ideas. In the exhibition spaces, a 'safe space' is created between two seemingly enemy countries, which can in this way stand side by side and sometimes within each other, in a harmonious way.

Peace Dance is asking you to Dance Peace.
Read about Dance Peace by Ashkan Roayaee & Keren Farago here