You have until Sept. 6th to catch ‘This Place’ at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art!
‘This Place’ explores the complexity of Israel and the West Bank, as place and metaphor, through the eyes of twelve internationally acclaimed photographers. Their highly individualized works combine to create not a single, monolithic vision, but rather a diverse and fragmented portrait, alive to all the rifts and paradoxes of this important and much contested space.
The project follows in the tradition of such projects as the Mission Héliographique in nineteenth-century France and the Farm Security Administration in the United States, which gathered artists who use photography to ask essential questions about culture, society and the inner lives of individuals. Initiated by photographer Frederic Brenner, the completed project consists of a traveling exhibition, companion publications and a program of live events.
The conception of THIS PLACE began for its initiator Frédéric Brenner in 2005. As his afterword to this catalogue attests, Brenner was driven by a desire to facilitate a visual counter-argument to the prevailing, often polarised, representations of Israel and the West Bank in both national and international news media. Whilst on the one hand acknowledging and paying heed to the region’s ongoing conflicts, THIS PLACE also asks that we look beyond this — that we widen and multiply our lens. From the outset, Brenner acknowledged to himself that no single vantage point — including his own — could speak of the complexity of this historic and contested place and its shaping of contemporary lives; to begin to comprehend the radical dissonance of this place would require a multiplicity of practices and perspectives.
THIS PLACE unveils twelve contemporary photographic vantage points upon Israel and the West Bank, created primarily between 2009 and 2012 by Frédéric Brenner, Wendy Ewald, Martin Kollar, Josef Koudelka, Jungjin Lee, Gilles Peress, Fazal Sheikh, Stephen Shore, Rosalind Fox Solomon, Thomas Struth, Jeff Wall and Nick Waplington. Together, they act as a heterogeneous narrative of a conflicted, paradoxical and deeply resonant place, drawn from the combination of these individual photographic sensibilities and approaches.
As part of the traveling exhibition, THIS PLACE was displayed at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, giving the Israeli and Palestinian natives represented in the photographs a chance to see their reality through the eyes’ of these artists.
“The images do not shy away from the divisiveness of Israeli and Palestinian societies, but at the same time they focus more on the shared humanity of all who call this place home.”- The Times of Israel
Allowing the masses to get an inside view on one of the most controversial regions on earth, while standing in a beautiful museum within the region, allows for a unique layered experience which is unparalleled in any other exhibition. A Tel Aviv Museum of Art spokesperson says, “(It is) … monumental artistic endeavor initiated by photographer Frederic Brenner, who believes that only through the eyes of great artists can we begin to understand the complexities of Israel its history,its geography,its inhabitants, its daily life and the resonance it has for people around the world.”
“This Place” is an excellent exhibition whose raison d’etre is not to provide an overview of Israel and the West Bank, but can be seen as an attempt to shed some light on the complexity of the land and its people. As a traveling exhibit on view in its land of origin it will likely be subjected to careful scrutiny by the Israeli public. For now, “This Place” is at home.”- Jewish Post
In addition to the opening of the exhibition, while the show is “at home” it seems fitting that there be events taking place to compliment the event. In addition to an interesting round table discussion with the photographers, photographer Wendy Ewald decided to take her project to the next level. Inviting groups of young children she worked with to come see the exhibition and be able to view their photographs in a world renowned museum evoked incredible responses. Additionally, visitors will be able to get an inside view on some of Josef Koudelka’s photos in Gilad Baram’s new documentary. Baram was kind enough to screen an excerpt and take the time to have a discussion with visitors at an event in the museum. The exhibition’s subject made it a must see for locals of all ages and backgrounds. Observers of the exhibition were taken aback by the photographers’ ability to capture the truth of the country in a beautiful and empowering way.
Watch the visitors reactions.
“The combined effect of all the photographs produces a diverse and nuanced portrait of Israel as a country.”- Time Out
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