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# Hamsin – 50 – Days of Awakening? 50 Years of Occupation – Group Exhibition

Khamsin – 50 | Days of Awakening?

Hamsin – 50

Days of Awakening?

A Multidisciplinary Exhibition

Curator: Anat Lideror

Curatorial Text

Fifty years have passed. Where does this country stand today? How are the country and its people, in all their diversity, affected by the existence of a “temporary” occupation that began in 1967 and continues to this day? Khamsin brings together the voices of 23 Jewish and Arab artists, as they look at the past, read the present, and envision possible futures for this country. The exhibition presents a multidisciplinary body of work encompassing painting, photography, sculpture, jewelry, ceramics, video art, installation, performance, and combinations of these media.

The exhibition is the result of collaboration and conceptual dialogue between 11 pairs of artists, involving shared thought and/or action and based on the premise that collaboration is the DNA required here. The works present different aspects of the occupation as they appear today, in 2017, including: displacement and refugeehood, the meaning of home, a society living in anxiety, occupation as an autoimmune action, a semi-ritualistic reality, women and the occupation, questions of hope and vision, occupation as an internal condition, victory albums, the end of days, and the light at the end of the tunnel.

Are we all affected by this, every day, in our personal lives? My answer is yes.

This is an opportunity to look the occupation in the eye, with our eyes wide open.

All of the artists participating in this exhibition are citizens of the State of Israel. They experience the occupation through their art, their lives, their teaching, and their work with diverse audiences. They truly believe, each in their own way, that their voice, and the voice of all of us, matters. This voice must not consent to being rendered powerless, privatized, or silenced. They believe that if we fail to preserve freedom of expression in the public sphere in general, and in art in particular, we will lose a substantial layer of our cultural, moral, and human fabric—a layer of our social body without which we will remain an exposed society, sustaining only the basic necessities of survival and nothing more. At a time when the public broadcasting authority is being shut down, and the public's voice and influence are in danger of being silenced, art is a bastion of freedom. It must not stand on the sidelines; it must speak in the way only art can.

A few weeks ago, at an event honoring Moshe Gershuni, Gideon Ofrat said: “Going out is a must!” He spoke about the meaning and necessity of art and artists moving outward into the public sphere. I would add that even when remaining within the studio and gallery space, Israeli art today has a role in addressing the public realm, because the public needs art and its voice as an ultimate defender of freedom of expression.

Participating artists: Avner Singer, Ahmad Canaan, Asad Azi, Gershon Knispel, Deganit Stern Schocken, Dubi Harel, Daniela Sharia, Hagar Mitelfunkt, Yael Lev, Muhammad Abu Rukiya, Moti Golan, Merav Heiman, Nava Harel Shoshani, Samah Shihadi, Abed Abdi, Adi Bezalel, Farid Abu Shakra, Zvika Altman, Katia Isabel Filmus, Raouf Abu Fana, Rania Akel, Rafi Mintz, and Tamar Shalit Avni.

Anat Lideror, Curator

Exhibition Events

Exhibition Opening
Saturday, May 20, 2017, at 11:30 AM
The Peace Gallery, Givat Haviva Art Center
Facebook Event

Gallery Talk
Gallery Talk Event  |  Gallery Talk Photo Album

“The Straw Widow” – One-Night Performance
Katia Isabel Filmus and Hagar Mitelfunkt
View Photo Album

Exhibition Dates

Opening: May 20, 2017
Closing: June 30, 2017

Publications & Media

A Glimpse into the Exhibition

Photo Album from the Exhibition

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