The Harbor Campus, Haifa
The First Mediterranean Biennial of Contemporary Art is an international event sponsored by the City of Haifa. The Biennial will be held in downtown Haifa, near the harbor, in the area known as the Harbor Campus.
Artists from Israel and around the world will exhibit in the Biennial. The works of art will be displayed inside shipping containers that will be integrated into the vibrant urban space of the city's downtown, under the artistic direction and curation of Mr. Belu-Simion Fainaru.
The containers, themselves basic and efficient units used for the transportation of goods between countries in the age of global economy, will become an alternative display space and a symbol for the search for personal and cultural identity, while referring to the now and the urban dimension.
The Biennial's theme will be the concept of Household Goods. This concept opens the discussion to questions of identity, time, place and individualism in the age of global culture and a consumer society swayed by market trends. In this age, art and culture have become a mirror of great wealth, a venue for investment and a motivation for ostentatious social gatherings. Meanwhile, the questions of personal identity, originality and the place of localized culture remain unanswered and open for debate. There is a growing need to refer to The Real Life. A place for thoughts of the un-known and what cannot be known, what cannot be bought or sold, a state of a-commercialism, should hold center-stage. The artist that participate in the event are (selected list): Christian Boltanski, Chantal Ackerman, Dani Caravan, Amos Gitai, Micha Ullman, Dan Perjovsky, Albert Kliest, Carina Diepens, Angel Vergara, Ciprian Muresan, Victor Man, kyoko Ebata, Mariko Asai, Herman van Ingelgem, Nezaket Akici, Ergin Covusoglu, Maria Papadimitriu, Anna Anders, Boas Kaizman, Mounir Fatmi, Ali Kazma, Halle Tanger, Raed Bawayah, Sebastian Moldovan ,Buki Schwarts, Alexandra Croitoru, Sasha Serber, Miri Segal, Ori Drumer, Edna Ohana, Nati Shamaiya Ofer, Hader Washaa, Manal Mahamid, Angelika Sher, Etti Abargel, Andrei Ustinov, Peter Daniel Chust, Raida Adon, Gideon Gehtman.
The City of Haifa has become a symbol of co-existence between the Jewish and Arab populations. In this spirit, the Biennial will provide Arab artists with a broad stage. It will create a platform for dialogue through art, examine the possibility of co-existence and look into the creation of a rich and varied Israeli culture.
Activities offered by the Biennial include the following:
• A partnership with art schools based in Haifa - The Department of Art and the Department of Theater at Haifa University, the WIZO Haifa Academy of Design and Education and Tiltan College of Design.
• An educational program based on the exhibition for high-school students in the city.
• Cooperation between the artists participating and the various art schools through master classes and lectures.
• A symposium on Art in the Urban Space, which will examine the influence of the artist and his art, and his involvement in the community and the urban fabric. The symposium will examine art that is created outside museums and galleries and has a direct impact on contemporary city life. The participants will include artists, critics, theorists, curators and museum directors.
The Biennial will be held in Northern Israel, an area that is usually on the fringe of the main art and culture scene. The Biennial targets both professionals and the sections of the public who don't usually visit museums and galleries. The event provides this well-deserving audience the opportunity to experience cultural events that are held in the periphery of the country and are part of its urban fabric.
For more information, please either contact Belu-Simion Fainaru at 972-54-4235790 or visit the Haifa Biennale website.