The project “What’s behind the Pastoral?” is a series of activities, events, exhibits, and performances dealing with the present, past, and future of Ein Kerem and with the place of pastorality in Israeli art. The project takes place at Mamuta the Daniela Passal Center for Art and Media, where the works will be produced and shown. The project engages with the Center’s environs in the village of Ein Kerem and is accomplished in cooperation with various institutions and neighbors. This is a project in stages, of which the beginning is known (September 2009), but not the end.
Concept
The immediate environs of Mamuta the Daniela Passal Center for Art and Media is a central issue which the Center is treating at the outset of its artistic activity. A large selection of works presented in the framework of this first project will deal with the history of the village from antiquity and biblical times, through the Middle Ages, and up to the present.
The works and projects will deal with the concept of pastorality. This concept is central in the attempt to define the breathtaking and idyllic landscape of Ein Kerem, which is illusive and stands in contradistinction not only to the dominant language and themes of contemporary art, but also to the complex historical reality of the village, including the ideas, religions, and myths connected to it. [more info]
