Last year I wrote a thesis about “Est-ce que le cinéma, en tant que médium, peut-il être un lieu de dialogue entre différentes cultures? Cas d’étude : Israël-Palestine” (“Is Cinema as a medium, can be a place of dialogue between different cultures? Study case : Israel-Palestine). I mainly focused on films that were gathering “mix” teams, to see how through artistic projects people could interact despite their origins and the heavy political/social context. Art, under all its forms, can be a perfect platform to start a dialog and make people coming together. It can of course sound a bite idealistic , but after all why not give it a try.
With the second Mediterranean Biennale coming up soon in Sakhnin (last year it was in Haifa), this International Contemporary Art exhibit is definitely going to try to create a platform of dialog through art. It is the first time that such an event is going to be held in an Israeli Arab City, regrouping works from Israeli and Arab artists but also from international world-renowned ones. Belu-Simion Fainaru, the curator and artistic director of the Biennale “hopes that by bringing the event to Sakhnin rather than to one of Israel’s natural cultural hubs will present a platform for dialogue between diverse cultures and communities through the prism of cultural and artistic influences”.
The event is going to take place to random spots in the city, as Sakhnin doesn’t have any municipal structure or cultural venue that could host The Mediterranean Biennale. The venues includes a Orthodox Church, a Butcher Shop, an Old Mosque and much more, giving the Fair a surrealistic atmosphere.
The curators like the idea that the fair is like a kind of laboratory where opinions, collaborations and individuals will all create a new contacts system, giving the artists the opportunity to interact and work together. This year the Biennale will focus on “the local processes occurring in the area and their cultural influences” and the changes that they experienced. The theme of the event is going to be RE-ORIENTATION, pointing the West – East relations and tensions. Artists such as Daniel Buren, Marina Abramovic or Lawrence Winer will be expose among Israeli and Arab talents.
Since I arrived in Israel, I have sometimes the feeling to be on an island, isolated and surrounded by water, that’s why I think the idea of bounding and building “arty” bridges is so attractive.
Contact :
The Mediterranean Biennale in Sakhnin
May 13th – 13th July 13th, 2013
The Bubblist 