Joy Bernard

Tel Aviv is considered to be one of the world’s most attractive tourist attractions, and for a good reason. Some of Israel’s prominent contemporary artists are so deeply drawn to Tel Aviv’s appeal, and identify with its story so much, that they have developed an especially close relationship with the city that never sleeps. They are not merely residents of Tel Aviv; they also think of the city as their primary source of inspiration. These four artists make it their mission to tell the tales of Tel Aviv through their art, placing their greatest muse – the city – at the forefront of their creations.

The musical hub in the city that never sleeps is rapidly growing, and in recent years seems to increasingly transcend the barriers of the Middle East through the variety of artists and genres that it offers audiences on stages across Tel Aviv.    But while the usual preferences of locales who are avid music lovers tend to gravitate toward traditional influences, such as mainstream pop-rock groups originating in the US or the UK, the Israeli ear is soon going to be challenged by a fusion of African tunes and Levant vibes in an exciting festival taking place this winter.    Arriving in the Holy Land for the second time, three-day mini music festival Africa Hotel is going to deliver diverse concerts in hip locations across the city, bringing artists from Nigeria and the US to introduce modern beats from the dark continent to the groove lovers of the White City.    Tracing back the roots of groove music, all musical acts are crossing continents and styles to perform in Israel for the very first time. Festival producers promise an “international, aerial musical train that will set off from Seattle, make a stop in New Orleans and travel all the way to Congo.”    The first concert to kick off the fete is by American hip hop duo Shabbaz Palaces, composed of Ishmael Butler and multi-instrumentalist Tendai “Baba” Maraire – considered to be one of the most esteemed groups in the international scene of underground hip hop.  © Victoria Kovios Shabbaz Palaces is one of the only black mus

Australian contemporary artist, Shaun Gladwell, shares Jagger’s appreciation for the horse as a symbol for an emotional force to be reckoned with, and is now bringing his fascination with the galloping creature to the Tel Aviv Museum in an exhibition titled 1,000 Horses.            Gladwell, who works with mediums such as moving image, photography, installation and virtual reality, explores the historic connection that the elegant and mythicized animal has with the story of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the region.   As both Israel and Australia mark a centennial to the Battle of Beersheba, which was fought between the Allied Forces and the 4th and 12th Australian Light Horse Brigades against the Ottoman Empire, the artist sheds a light on the significant role the Australian-reared and trained horses had on the defeat of the empire, which in turn led to the rise of the British rule of Palestine.      Gladwell’s works depict images of the horse life cycle, taken both in the southern Israeli Negev Desert and Down Under. The Waler horse – the same breed that was used by the Australian mounted troops in the famous battle – is seen in his photographs against the backdrops of monuments erected in memory of the momentous offensive.    Projected in videos and through virtual reality glasses, Gladwell’s horses seem to be both tame and glorious, synonymous with the virility they symbolize and yet same battle-worn. Beautiful and bald, their eyes gaze ahead, evoking questions about

Is it an exotic bird? Is it an alien? Is it a mythical, tempting siren that traveled from the underworld and landed smack-dab in the middle of Tel Aviv’s emerging and intriguing contemporary musical hub?   The answer to all of these questions is somewhere between yes, no, and all of the above.    Israeli artist and musician Carmel Michaeli, or as she prefers to be called on stage, Karma She, seems to refuse to condense her musical performance act to one definition, and she sure enjoys baffling concertgoers with her unique looks and deeply-layered, original beats.    Her fierce, unrelenting gaze, accented by Amy Winehouse-like thick eyeliner and a prominent, Marilyn Mansonesque blue contact lense covering one eye, has penetrated the souls of countless listeners who caught a glimpse of Karma’s raw and enthralling act in her music videos and live shows.    On the cusp of releasing her second EP, which she is currently recording in Berlin, Karma says she wants to create for her audiences “a very powerful and immersive experience that works on different senses – not only what you hear but what you see and how you feel. I reference different cultures through my dances and customs, through all the elements that we use in our pop show.”    Her new EP follows in the footsteps of the first (Spiritual Playgirl). The artist says that it “will include six tracks and, in terms of genre, it’s electro-pop with influences of rap, dance-soul, and UK garage.”   Karma, who had her own solo elect

The music roars disturbingly loud, white noise drumming on furiously. Two ever-so-graceful bodies glide on stage, the feeble light slowly focusing on their muscular forms as they push and strive, embrace and break apart. Their shorn heads and similar build make it almost impossible to discern between the pair of dancers. Are they female or male? Are they fighting or making love? Are they winning or losing? Does it even matter? This ambiguous, magical duo who enjoy both provoking and moving their audiences to tears are artists Shamel Pitts and Mirelle Martins. Their show, “BlackVelvet,” is a heart-piercing exploration of gender, race, identity, love and friendship, now arriving to Israel for two performances, one in Tel Aviv and another in Jerusalem.   We spoke to the pair about their bold attempt to break barriers in a creation that refuses to fit the traditional mold of modern dance and has already stunned viewers in the United States, Sweden and Germany. Shamel Pitts is a performance artist, dancer, spoken word artist and teacher. He hails from Brooklyn, New York, but spent what he calls his “formative years both as an artist and as a person” in Tel Aviv, where he danced with the Batsheva Dance Company. © Alex APT “Once, while I was living in Tel Aviv, Galit Reich, producer of my first solo work titled 'Black Box', was talking to me as I was shaving my head. As she watched my black hair hit the floor, suddenly she said: ‘Wow, it looks like velvet!’ I laughed and answered,

Israeli photographer and graphic designer Yarden Hamber faced a challenge that followed her around everywhere she went: being a twin sister. The 26-year-old artist was so disturbed by the impact it had on her sense of self, or be looked at by society without the prism of her twin-hood, to the point that this identity crisis seeped into her art.    The stunning result is her photography project Twinhood, a thin and inspiring book of original photographs the artist took and developed of different pairs of twins who illustrate several psychological terms Hamber says are directly linked to being a twin and are all derived from a book on child development.    © Yarden Hamber Hamber, who did not study photography professionally, crafted Twinhood as the final project for her design studies at the Shenkar College of Engineering and Design after taking expanded studies in Visual Communications.    Through her lense, the artist aimed to bring into focus the symbiotic relationship that goes hand in hand with being a twin. Some of the terms she illustrated show the more painful elements of leading a life with your identical other such as Dependency, Living in the Shadow of a Mirrorand Comparisons. Others boast of the advantage of having such a close companion, for example The Secret Language.    Hamber says that, in her experience, a lot of twins develop throughout their lives an unspoken language of empathy: shared glances and a nod of the head suffice for twins to convey to each othe

  South Africa-born, world-renowned contemporary artist Robin Rhode wears an enormous grin as he points at what is undoubtedly the centerpiece of his solo exhibition at the Tel Aviv Museum, extending his hand in an inviting gesture.  Rhode, who is there to orchestrate the final preparations ahead of the special opening of the first-ever art exhibit by a South African artist at an Israeli museum, insists that gallery goers step out of their comfort zone and into the, somewhat austere, playground he has erected for them at the Architecture and Design Wing.  The unordinary gallery will be home for the next four months to Rhode’s artistic presentation of his fantastical experimentations with color and light, most suitably titled Under the Sun.     It took the artist some four years to transform the long, sinewy metal statue that rolls in on itself in a wave-like pattern from a dream in his mind into the vibrant object that it is. The sculpture operates like a touch sensor, buzzing with ripples of light that travel across it and increase when it is pressed on either of its ends. Looking at Rhode as he enthusiastically demonstrates the effects of the fruit of his labor, one can’t help but recall a popular game that preceded the age of cellular phones; that in which children hooked empty tin cans with chords to emulate how sound travels in regular phone conversations.  The artist laughs at the association, then explains that it is exactly this type of journey he would like to invite

If you think about the word ‘paper’ as only the everyday object it describes, more often than not, a simple enough image will come to mind - a blank, white page. For most of us, the only time this material is actually put to proper use in our urban, modern, and digitized lives is when we send or receive yawn-inducing official letters or collect bills and receipts.    A new exhibition at Tel Aviv’s Eretz Israel Museum seeks to challenge the dull and confining definition of paper, assigning to this, rather lackluster, object new and profound emotional meanings that make it anything but the carte blanche we mistakenly think it is.    The exhibition On the Edge - Israeli Paper brings together the art works of 65 different Israeli artists, graphic designers, jewelers, textile designers, architects, product designers, and paper artists, who have all lent their own perspective to this seemingly banal material.    Curator Anat Gatenio has given the artists free reign, allowing each of them to take their own creative journey with the material. The result is a diverse and almost overwhelmingly rich array of creations, each utilizing paper in its own way to express sentiments and statements, or to deliver a personal story.    © Leonid Pederol               Most artists chose to dissect, tear apart and closely examine paper as a medium as well as its different modes, relating to it not as a platform upon which text can be inscribed but rather as an exciting, raw material with the poten

This alternative arts and cultural hub has been accentuating the gritty and offbeat charm of the south Tel Aviv Shapira neighborhood for quite a while now, having opened its doors last October. But in fact, the center has 200 years of impressive history to boast of - the building it is located in once served as one of the 30 well houses that were built in the city back in the 19th century.    At the time, it was mostly known as the ‘Sheikh Murad House,’ and after it was covered with red plaster it received the nickname it now officially goes by. Today, the Red House is an arts-based community center where exhibitions, theater shows, music concerts and art installations are prominently on display. It is also home to the Red Gallery, which showcases contemporary art exhibitions crafted by local and international artists.  In addition, the center offers artists work spaces as well as an artist residency program which hosts foreign artists for two to three month periods at a time, propelling them in making their mark personally, while coinciding with connecting to the Israeli community on a more personal and communal level.  From the very get-go to the present day, the Red House’s main agenda has been to spark a dialogue and connect different populations through art and a love of culture. Merging languages, cultural experiences and different backgrounds, its eclectic and tolerant ethos will surely rub off on any visitor stepping into the very red, and very inviting, space.   35