katalog-overlapping voices - Ritesinstitute

Als Künstlerin setze ich verschiedenste medien ein, etwa Fotografie, Skulptur,
malerei, Installationen und Schrift. Kunst ist für mich ein medium, um meinen
persönlichen und gesellschaftlichen Überzeugungen Gehör zu verschaffen.
In dieser Ausstellung zeige ich zwei Arbeiten. Erstens die speziell für die
Schau geschaffene Installation „Beehive/Archive“ (Bienenstock/Archiv). Das
motiv des Archivs erscheint immer wieder in meiner Kunst und ist mit meiner
persönlichen Biografie als mizrachi-Frau verknüpft. Die Geschichte einer
minderheit, die mündlich von mutter zu Tochter weitergegeben wurde, wird
vom Establishment in Israel normalerweise nicht niedergeschrieben. In meiner
Installation verwende ich das Bild des Archivs, um die Geschichte von
minderheiten zeitnah aufzuzeichnen und eine Geschichte der mizrachi-
Frauen in Israel darzustellen. Im Archiv finden sich Texte und visuelle Informationen
zu verschiedensten Elementen des mizrachi-Feminismus, in die
auch die Arbeit der Bewegung „Achoti (Schwester) – for Women in Israel“
eingebunden ist. Das motiv des Bienenstocks symbolisiert die von Frauen
geleistete Arbeit, ihre Solidarität, ihre Produkte etc. Dieses Bienenstockarchiv
ist in sechseckige Fächer unterteilt. In den Fächern verwahre ich Elemente,
die einen Bezug zur Geschichte und zum Narrativ der mizrachim
haben, etwa Bücher, Tagebücher, Gedichte, Fotos, Körbe, die von Israelinnen
äthiopischer Herkunft hergestellt wurden, Zeichnungen, von Palästinenserinnen
gefertigte bestickte Handtaschen und Kissen und vieles mehr. Sie alle sollen
bei der Ausstellung nach dem Fair-Trade-Prinzip verkauft werden.
In dieser Arbeit verbinde ich das Konzept des Archivs mit dem des Bienenstocks
und Bazars, da der Aktivismus der mizrachi-Feministinnen eine räumliche
Arbeit ist, die Texte und Theorie mit Aktionen verbindet.
Die zweite Installation, „There are no Names for Things“ (Die Dinge haben
keinen Namen), besteht aus einem Tisch, auf dem 84 Würfel wie ein Schachbrett
angeordnet sind. jeder Würfel ist mit Fotos, Wachs, Texten und anderen
Elementen überzogen. Die Dokumentarfotos habe ich 1997 in einem Zeitraum
von sechs monaten in benachteiligten Gemeinden in der geographischen
Peripherie Israels aufgenommen. Die Arbeit erzählt von der Unterdrückung,
der Identitätsauslöschung und der Geschichte der mizrachi-Gemeinde in
Israel. Gleichzeitig stellt sie eine Reise dar, eine visuelle Geschichte von orten,
menschen und Kulturen.
I was born and still live in a low-income neighborhood in Southern Tel Aviv.
my personal background and personal struggles were the foundation that led
me towards work in social activism in the public arena. I have devoted my
work to social justice initiatives; advancement of women’s employment and
earning opportunities; solidarity among women and dialogue between jewish
and Arab women. my activism combines a social and cultural agenda regarding
women and art, diversity, dialogue respecting the differences as well as
multiculturalism. As a mizrahi feminist, visual artist, curator and social activist,
I have been leading for many years an innovative agenda in the politics
of gender and identities in Israel.
Together with a group of women activists, one of my main priorities in the last
few years was the establishment of the first mizrahi (middle Eastern/North
African/Asian jews) feminist movement, based on the principle of “Feminism
of Colour”, with an agenda focused on economic, social, political and cultural
rights for marginalized women from different ethnic backgrounds such as:
mizrahi, Palestinian, Ethiopian, Bedouin women as well as foreign immigrants
and political refugees, entitled “Achoti (Sister) – for Women in Israel”. I became
the Executive Director of Achoti and developed a few cultural centres
that interconnect the passion for social, political and cultural activism.
my activist work is very much intertwined with my artistic work and has been
the source of creative inspiration. The core of my artwork is my connection
with people and their struggles for justice. For many years I have initiated
cultural, social and communal projects that feature community involvement
and that involve ethnic themes. I use recurring themes in my creative work,
such as exploring the concept of identity, and the notion of archives – a way
to preserve history. my art becomes a tool of archiving, in order to document
the unrecorded history of the mizrahi community and other non-hegemonic
communities in Israel, which mostly represent the working class. These communities
all struggle to free themselves from discrimination and to achieve
social and cultural recognition.
As an artist, I am engaged in various mediums, such as photography, sculpture,
painting, installations, writing, etc. Art has become a medium to voice
my personal and social beliefs.
At this exhibition, I exhibit two artworks. one of them is a “Beehive/Archive”
installation I created specially for this exhibition. The motif of the Archive appears
in my artworks over past years, and it is connected to my personal
biography as a mizrahi woman. The history of minorities, which was a verbal
history passed from mother to daughter, is not usually written down by the
Establishment in Israel. Within my installation, I use the image of the archive
to document the history of these minorities as it is occurring and to represent
a story of the mizrahi women’s community within Israel. The Archive accumulates
textual and visual information and knowledge of various elements of
mizrahi Feminism and which the work Achoti (Sister) – for Women in Israel
movement is involved in. The work also relates to the Beehive motif as the
Beehive symbolizes women’s labour, solidarity, products etc. The “Beehive/
Archive” is arranged within various compartments, each compartment in the
shape of a hexagon. Within these compartments, I store elements regarding
mizrahi history and narrative, such as books, diaries, poetry, photographs,
baskets woven by Israeli women of Ethiopian origin, drawings, embroidered
handbags and cushions made by Palestinian women, and more. All of them
to be sold at the exhibition as fair trade elements.
In that work I connect the concept of Archive together with the concept of
the Beehive and the Bazar, since the mizrahi Feminist activism is a spatial
work that embraces actions together with texts and theory.
The second installation “There are no Names for Things” is a table that has
on top of it eighty-four cubes, like a Chessboard. Each cube is covered with
photographs, wax, texts and other elements. These documentary photographs
I took in a period of six months during 1997 among disadvantaged communities
in the geographical peripheries across Israel. This artwork talks about
the oppression, the erasing of identity and the history of the mizrahi community
in Israel. And at the same time it creates a journey, a visual story of place,
people and cultures.
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