ANU-Museum of The Jewish People Presents A New Art Exhibition: OCTOBER SEVENTH

 

5th March 2024

February 23, 2024, to November 1, 2024

ANU-Museum of the Jewish People recently opened a new exhibition entitled October Seventh that spotlights the response of the Israeli arts community to the war which began that day, and the burst of creativity witnessed since the start of the war. This large-scale exhibition displays works of art, as well as a documentary work accompanied by Israeli music. October Seventh brings together 25 artists whose works address, conduct a dialogue with, and echo the war and the difficult days that Israeli society and the Jewish people have been going through since that fateful day. The artists whose works are being exhibited include some who were taken hostage or murdered in October, as well as residents of southern Israel who, along with their families, have experienced the loss, destruction, and pain of the war.

Dr. Orit Shaham Gover, the chief curator of ANU-Museum of the Jewish People: “The aftermath of the horrific attacks on October 7, 2023, and the war that followed led many Israelis to rethink the way we interpret our history, art, and culture. It has been said that “when the canons are heard, the muses are silent.” The need to survive is thought to quiet ideas, thoughts, and creation. This notion seems to have turned its head in this war, and we are experiencing an abundance of creativity in all art fields. As the canons are heard, the voices of the muses are emerging all the more clearly from deep down in the throat.

This exhibition does not intend to sum things up or offer an angle on Israeli art since October 7. It presents a particular situation and bears witness to the unique burst of creativity in Israeli society since the outbreak of the war.  The prevailing feeling is that even after the war ends, things will never be as they were and that the anger and profound grief will have a lasting effect on our lives.”

Musical compositions are also integrated into the exhibition. 40 Israeli songs that have become a kind of soundtrack of the war will be heard in the gallery space. Those songs are not necessarily new, but the war injected them with new meaning, and they represent and mirror the spirit of the period. The inclusion of the music in the exhibition, under the heading 'The Pain Front,' aims to offer visitors an additional sensory dimension, besides paying tribute to the Israeli musicians who volunteered for the task and have performed throughout the country since the outbreak of the war.

Another key element that reflects the response of the arts community is devoted to documentary work. It includes the film War Diary, which was made and screened as part of the exhibition Local Testimony 23. It consists of 300 photographs that were taken in the Western Negev and across the country starting on October 7th and during the first weeks of the war. The photographs were chosen by the members of the Local Testimony board.
The exhibition continues and expands on the first part of the exhibition October Seventh, which opened at the Museum in November 2023. It included installations and video artworks displayed in the Museum lobby that focused on the hostages and made their cries heard.
Among the participating artists in the exhibition

• Miriam Cabessa’s works Radical Hope and It's Mainly About the Heavens, convey prayer, faith and hope for a better future.

• Sofie Berzon MacKie, the curator of the Be'eri Gallery that was burned to the ground, presents four photographs that bring together animals and birds found in Europe where she was born, as well as objects from home, from Israel, and Be'eri

• Shai Azoulay presents Sea of Tears and Storm, both of which were painted before the war. Shai is quoted as saying "on October 7th, our lives here received a new form and color. Nothing will ever go back to being what it was before."

• Twins Nil and Karin Romano, whose paintings feature motifs from the subconscious, present several works, including Rage and Be'eri, October 7, 2023, and A Nation Clutching Sorrow (2019). Click here to download an image From the Ashes a Fire will be Woken. Acrylic on Paper 2023

• Amit Cabessa’s works Strangers (2023) and Nahal Oz (2023) focus on the circle of life that was cut off brutally.

• Curator and artist Dr. Ziva Jelin paints a panorama of Be'eri's landscapes in shades of red and black, which symbolize a sense of family, warmth, and love.

• Irit Regev painted First Sergeant P and her dog, Bingo as a tribute to the dogs of the IDF's Oketz (canine) Unit and the army's female combat soldiers. 

• The late Jonathan Chazor, before going into the battle where he was killed, was photographed making a chalk drawing of the face of his beloved dog Oscar on a blackboard in a Gaza school. In his works, Yonatan often explored images that combine humans and animals, humans and machines, and humanity and barbarity.

• Keren Shpilsher presents her series Otef Israel: We Won't Forget and Won't Forgive, which was inspired by paintings made by the great masters of Western art.

• Zvika Lachman presents his War Diary 2023 – The Tragedy That Turned Our World Upside Down, which provides the artist's day-by-day account of the events.

Exhibition credit

Chief curator: Dr. Orit Shaham Gove

Curators: Carmit Blumensohn, Michal Houminer

Link for the website: https://www.anumuseum.org.il/

About ANU - Museum of the Jewish People
ANU is the largest, most comprehensive Jewish Museum in the world. The museum tells the ongoing 4,000-year story of the Jewish people, in its entirety, through the lens of identity, culture and history. Immersive exhibitions and innovative storytelling are relevant for people of all ages, backgrounds, and faiths. The museum is located on the campus of Tel Aviv University in Tel Aviv, Israel.

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