The sixth Jerusalem Biennale, the largest platform in the world for Israeli and Jewish art, was scheduled to open on November 9, with over 35 exhibitions in 22 prestigious venues around the capital. With works of art already in transit, and artists, curators, and visitors scheduled to fly in from all over the world, the Hamas terrorist attack forced Biennale director Rami Ozeri to postpone.
But one curator, Vanessa De Loya Stauber, refused to allow even violent acts of terror to hold her back, and she insisted on going ahead with the exhibition she had worked on with a group of Israeli and international Jewish artists for the past two years. The show, currently on display at the Jerusalem Theater, is a kaleidoscope of colors and emotions, techniques and ideas.
Titled “Winged Women,” the exhibition draws on the anthology of heroic Jewish women in its interpretation of the theme of the sixth Jerusalem Biennale, Iron Flock (Tzon Barzel in Hebrew). This phrase from Mishnah Baba Batra 9:9 references the inalienable assets that women bring into relationships, as well as the inviolable, intrinsic elements that belong to Israeli and Jewish culture.
The layers of meaning and sense of sacred feminine power
Psychoanalyst and independent curator De Loya Stauber selected works with layers of meaning and an overarching sense of sacred feminine power. Among the celebrated women portrayed in the show are biblical matriarchs Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah; prophetesses Deborah and Huldah; heroines Judith and Esther; Rachel, the wife and muse of Rabbi Akiva; Bruria, the wise; Pearl, the wife of the Maharal of Prague; the brave María Núñez; Glückel of Hameln, the exceptional scholar; Freyda, the daughter of Shneur Zalman of Liadi; Menucha Rochel Slonim, venerated pillar of Hebron; and Lilith, the iconoclast, the Amazon who braves all storms.
Artists, too, must be brave. As De Loya Stauber writes in her curatorial statement, “Artistic sublimation can provide relief when there are things difficult or impossible to say. Lao Tzu said: ‘Learn to write your wounds in the sand and engrave your joys in stone.’ The artist does not seek oblivion in false lyrical consolations as Adorno presupposed. The artist paints or sculpts his torments, and takes up the challenge to expel them.”
While the other exhibitions wait for a more peaceful time, in an amazing display of solidarity some of the artists and curators have mounted exhibitions of the Jerusalem Biennale in their home cities, such as New York, Casale Monferrato, and Buenos Aires, with others pending.
Ozeri stated, “The Jerusalem Biennale became like a pulse, beating steadily every two years. Since 2013, without exception and despite the many challenges, the Jerusalem Biennale has created a platform for contemporary art at the very center of the Jewish world. Until now: It’s as if the heart skipped a beat.
“But even now, after the unspeakable pain of October 7, we have witnessed a huge outpouring of solidarity from around the world. Within weeks, our friends and partners have succeeded in mounting, in their own cities, exhibitions created for the Jerusalem Biennale. And more are scheduled to open around the world in the coming months. We will continue to nurture the ties of art and culture between Jerusalem and the world today more than ever. This heart will always keep beating.”
Altea Steinherz, assistant director of the Jerusalem Biennale, admitted that she was not fully confident about the exhibition going forward until everything was in place. “I’m the mother of two IDF soldiers, and this exhibition celebrating the fortitude of Jewish women across generations has important things to say, especially now,” she affirmed. “Art can be a powerful and universal prayer.”
Located at the Jerusalem Theatre, 20 Marcus Street, the exhibition is dedicated to the brave female soldiers and civilians slain on Oct. 7. At a time when we are inundated with unbearable images, ‘Winged Women’ offers itself like a bandage on an open wound.
