Unique Temporary Exhibitions at the Israel Museum

[caption id="attachment_288896" align="alignnone" width="450"] Strand 2007–22. Barbed wire constructions coated in salt crystals. Collection of the artist © Sigalit Landau, Israel PrevNext[/caption] For twenty years, Sigalit Landau has made art – both monumental and profoundly intimate – at the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth. Inspired by this primal place, Landau creates works of great beauty that address fragile dualities: life and death, injury and healing, destruction and hope. The Burning Sea presents a selection of Landau’s Dead Sea artworks of the last two decades, from glittering salt-encrusted sculptures to video works and photographs. The exhibition also premieres a new video trilogy that relates to her idea of building a bridge over the lake, a project that has engaged Landau for many years, first emerging in her memorable installation at the 2011 Venice Biennale, which is represented here for the first time in Israel. Following Landau into the salt-saturated water and experiencing both the magnificence and the devastation of this endangered site, the exhibition closes on an optimistic note, with the hope that we can build a bridge over burning water.

[caption id="attachment_288890" align="alignnone" width="450"] Photo © David Claerbout / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, 2022[/caption] This exhibition focuses on the relationship between human beings and animals. What is the delicate balance between civilization and nature? And how does our attitude to animals define us? Every human culture has symbols from the animal world, distinguishing between the human and the animalistic. In myths and fables, animals were presented as talking to each other or to humans, such as in the Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling, published in 1894, and in the 1967 Walt Disney animated film that is loosely based on Kipling’s book. Both raise compelling questions about the relationship between humans and animals. The exhibition shows characters from The Jungle Book who left a fictional jungle to engage with the human jungle. At times the artworks on display relate to actual animals; at times they present animals as symbols for instinct, aggression, or fear, or they may be a metaphor for how human beings abuse one another. In this hierarchical, violent power game, it is often difficult to distinguish between what is wild and what is civilized. The identity of the hunter and hunted, predator and prey, becomes unclear – who is the wild beast here? Please note: This exhibition contains items that some might find upsetting

[caption id="attachment_288902" align="alignnone" width="450"] Photo © The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, by Elie Posner[/caption] For the first time in its history, the Archaeology Wing is hosting a contemporary art exhibition in its permanent galleries: seven sculptures by Israeli artist Zohar Gotesman engage with the displays in the galleries, disrupting the linear sequence, blurring the boundaries between periods, contents and techniques, expanding the discourse on archaeology, history, and art history. Gotesman's love of archaeology and the Israel Museum's collection was the point of departure, for a unique journey that led to this exhibition. The large-scale, site-specific sculptures he created, converse with the archaeological finds, their historical and cultural contexts, and their use. Gotesman's works propose a personal statement about our own times. Their overarching theme is human nature alongside the exploration of issues related to the fields of archaeology and art.