Beeswax and mosaic caves: Art in Tel Aviv, Herzliya, and other locations

Crafted by bees – Slovak artist Tomas Libertiny presents the bust of Roman emperor Hadrian at the Israel Museum, in a new exhibition combining innovative design and sustainable art. Noting his artistic decision to orchestrate bees as a solution to art production, Libertiny’s golden workers already crafted the bust of Nefertiti, the wife of Akhenaten (2022’s Eternity aka Nefertiti) and even the head of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

This recasting in wax of the ruler who erased Judea off the map of the ancient world offers the Israeli public a powerful invitation to mediate on power and its limitations. Worker bees live for a few weeks while the queen bee lives for up to six years, Libertiny told The Jerusalem Post. In human terms, a queen lives for 3,000 years.

“Bee’s wax is very durable,” he noted. “It’s like a membrane that seals everything.”

Noting Libertiny’s art is part of a larger shift toward sustainable design, curator of design and architecture Rami Tareef observed that “this is part of the neo-craft movement, the craftsmanship of the bee.”

“This exhibition embodies the spirit of this museum; an encyclopedic museum that offers new connections to be made,” senior curator of Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine Archaeology Dudi Mevorah added.

Libertiny’s interest in Nefertiti was shared by Dana Darvish, who recently presented The Destruction of All Art at Art Cube Artists’ Studios in an exhibition curated by Ilanit Konopny. While the Slovak artist took the long way around the barn, researching bees for years to eventually be able to offer a “full” wax bust of the feminine beauty icon, the Israeli artist preferred to “demand the smallest thing from the material to make art out of it,” she said. This is a wise reference to the early decades of Israeli art, during which artists were able to see important artworks only from printed reproductions.  

11 Ruppin Blvd. Hours: Monday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. NIS 54 per ticket. Call (02) 670-8811 for more information. 

Supported by the Embassy of Slovakia in Israel; the Slovak Institute, Jerusalem and its director Jakub Urik; The Office for Slovaks Living Abroad; Tatra Bank – Slovakia. 

Tel Aviv

FROM THIS PLACE – Attend Poalot Mikan (Working from Here) Alfred Festival which will begin on Thursday, May 9, and continue until Saturday, May 25.

Artistic directors Revital Michali and Efrat Rubin have created a rich program combining dance, performance, and music The Atelier Spaces, Tel Aviv Tarbut, Alfred Gallery, and the Boaz Ahronovitz Studio.

Among the performances included are Polar Bee (Friday, May 10, at noon, 2 p.m., and 4 p.m.) by Yarden El-Kayam and Yulia Frydin’s Crying Over Spilled Milk on Saturday, May 18, during the same hours.

6 Shvil Hameretz. NIS 60 per ticket. Email alfred.hecht@gmail.com or visit www.alfredinstitute.org to book.

International museum day 

On Thursday, May 9, about 100 museums across the country will open their doors gratis and offer unique events in honor of International Museum Day. 

The Museum of Man and the Natural World, at the Ramat Gan Safari, will offer free admission upon pre-registration from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. as well as an adult-oriented tour at 2 p.m. Come see it latest exhibition, Sea/Land, which invites the audience to listen to the music oysters make in the deep blue sea.

10 Ehad Ha’am St. Call (03) 631-5010 or email info@adamvechai.org.il to book.

Hamizgaga Museum of Archaeology and Glass at Kibbutz Nahsholim offers a special exhibition about the lives of women in the ancient world and a simulation of how archaeologists dive to unearth the past. Call (04) 639-0950 or email mizgaga1891@gmail.com for more.

A complete list of all museums taking part, and how to sign up to their respective lectures and events, can be found at www.icom.org.il.

ART NEWS

HERZLIYA – Nissim Kahlon’s cave at Sidna Ali beach, where he has lived for half a century and transformed into a well-known tourist attraction, was challenged by the state as it is essentially an illegally built dwelling on public land.

To visit Kahlon’s mosaic-filled home, call (09) 955-0756. Note that he is observant and will not answer during Shabbat and Jewish holidays.

NEVO – The same-titled artwork by Ariel Hacohen, commissioned by Knesset curator Sharon Soffer for the Knesset art collection, was recently placed near the Knesset cafeteria. This is an inspired choice since Hacohen uses digital manipulations of objects discovered at various archaeological sites to offer visual wealth and a sense of expectations, as if all the weight of past generations is expecting some miraculous leap into a new promised land.

PERSONAL STRUCTURES – While the Israeli pavilion at the Venice Biennale was shut down until the captives held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas terrorists are returned and a ceasefire is reached, Israeli artist Suly Bornstein Wolff is showing her works at Personal Structures, an exhibition right next to a Palestinian Pavilion.

Curated by Vera Pilpoul, Wolff’s exhibition opened on Saturday, April 20, and will be open to the public until Wednesday, November 27 at Palazzo Mora; admission is free.

At the Biennale, The Golden Lion for Best National Participation was awarded to Australia, which showed work by Kamilaroi Bigambul artist Archie Moore. The first Australian to be awarded this prize, his installation Kith and Kin is a description of his family’s legacy spanning 65,000 years.

Australian Arts Minister Tony Burke said the work shows “the power of Australian art and storytelling going right back to the first sunrise” and pointed to the decision to build a new pavilion for Australia in 2013 as one that evidently paid off.

Meanwhile, artist Ruth Patir and curator Mira Lapidot decided to shut down the space meant to present Israeli art to the world despite securing public funding for this purpose. Curator and art critic Smadar Sheffi called Patir and Lapidot’s decision as one arrived at “too late.”

This unusual decision might be considered within the following context. The Democratic Republic of Congo is presenting an exhibition titled Lithium during a hunger crisis impacting 25.4 million people.

Lebanon is presented with A Dance with her Myth by Mounira Al Solh, shown during the ongoing Lebanese liquidity crisis, which caused 80% of Lebanese to live in poverty.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is also there, with an exhibition titled Of One Essence is the Human Race shown at the same time its government attacks Israel with hundreds of drones.

Venezuela, which currently goes through the largest displacement crisis in the world, is presenting art by Juvenal Ravelo. Curator Edgar Ernesto Gonzalez did not suggest this pavilion would be bolted because 7.7 million citizens of Venezuela had been displaced.

Not a single protester questioned the decency of the Democratic Republic of the Congo presenting art when its population is starving to death. Nor was a single letter of protest passed among artists wondering about the morality of Lebanon taking place in a global cultural event that most of its citizens are too poor to visit.

In contrast, tens of thousands of people signed a protest stating they refused to accept this “empty gesture” by Patir and Lapidot and called for Israel to be removed from the event altogether. 

This outcry would have been a tad more convincing had similar moral standards been applied to other countries included in the event.

Art Roundup is a monthly glance at some of the finest art exhibitions and events currently shown across the country. Artists, curators, and collectors are welcome to send pitches to hagayhacohen@yahoo.com with “Art Roundup” in the email subject.