REKAMOT: Embroidery and Calligraphy in Contemporary Art in Israel

Works on display in this group exhibition of contemporary artists in Israel – male and female, Jew and Arab, are conducting dialogues. An animated and significant dialogue is taking place between the personal, cultural baggage of each of the participating artists and common images and motifs of Palestinian embroidery and weaving; dresses or pieces of cloth, Arabic and arabesque script mainly based on the inherited skills of Palestinian, Bedouin and Druze women. This is a cultural dialogue which flows both ways: Arab and Jewish artists conversing with their culture and with the culture of “others”.

Together with the contemporary works, which are made in a variety of techniques: drawings, photography, sculpture, ceramics, weaving, embroidery and installations, items of clothing and artisanship from local Palestinian heritage are displayed. These are the creations of women whose identities are not known, from the collections of Haled Maharik and Khader Oshah.

Over the last two decades, “the Arab voice” has achieved increasing exposure in the art world both in Israel and abroad. This exposure is connected without a doubt to the vibrant post-modern discourse relating to the “other” as a whole and the Muslim and Palestinian “other” in particular. The background is the power struggles and control of the global oil market; the mass migration of Muslims to Europe; the fundamentalist-Islamic terror and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The embroidery exhibition is integrated in this discourse, but focuses on a certain aspect, whose meanings are broader than decoration and ornamentation. In our opinion, the use of these components and images is a way to deal with the complex identity of most Israeli citizens which also include that of Palestinian – Arab Israeli citizens. The art works in this exhibition allow us to examine the questions relating to the attitudes of the artists, men and women, to: a) the traditional and the new; b) art and handicrafts; c) west and east; d) acceptance and opposition, or the critique and protest; e) the obvious and the hidden; f) cultural and the cross-cultural/multi-cultural.

The exhibition creates multiple two-way dialogues through a fascinating meeting between traditional and contemporary works; and between the different contemporary works of artists from different cultures. The range of different voices creates a rich texture whose power lies in its differences.

Participating artists: Buthina Abu Milhem, Fatma Abu-Roomi, Farid Abu Shakra, Anisa Ashkar, Asad Azi, Linda Bar-on, Ahmad Canaan, Guy Cohen, Mervat Essa, Huda Jammal, Reuven Kadim, Mohemmed Saied Kalash, Sohair Kanaane, Nidaa Khoury, Sima Meir, Daniella Meller, Manal Morcos, Sara Nissim, Khader Oshah, Ilana Ravek, Atalia Shachar, Avner Zinger, Bedouin Embroidery and Palestinian dresses.