Tel-Hai Magazine 2023-2024

The Evacuated Living Room An installation of a living room that had been set up temporarily at the Habima plaza, Tel Aviv, where friends, family, and passersby were invited to gather and en gage in discussions about their situation. The living room is a central space in ev ery house —the cozy intimate space in which the truly meaningful events take place, where the most profound, both good and challenging conversations un fold. The students assembled a rug, a tablecloth and some sofas to create an alternative space that evoked a sense of home despite its makeshift elements. The living room, which had hosted displaced individuals in the public sphere, was then dismantled, reassembled, and presented at the exhibition in Jaffa as an art instal lation.

outbreak of the war as an initiative of students from the ceramics department. Dispersed, and not able to begin their studies as planned, a few students went to Kibbutz Shfayim, where evacuated survivors of October 7th from Kfar Aza were being accommodated. There, they began conducting ceramic workshops for all age groups of the evacuated commu nity. Their initial drive was simply to be present and use art as a creative outlet for healing and soothing the pain that words could not express. This initiative inspired many more students and graduates of the Institute to volunteer, expanding these activities to include other materials and creative workshops. Immediately re sponding to these growing needs, was The Jewish Federation of Greater Van couver (JFGV), who rallied to support this meaningful cause. With their gener ous support, the volunteers were able to reach approximately 3,000 participants at evacuee centers all over Israel includ ing Eilat, Tze’elim, the Dead Sea, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Tiberias and more. Another activity led by students from the Institute involved painting mobile bomb shelters in Sde Eliezer, together with the Coast-to-Coast Solidarity Mis sion to Israel, a Canadian delegation which came to show their support and solidarity in February of this year. Despite not being able to conduct study programs on campus, the Institute provided its students with several alter native programs. One of these included a series of sessions with artist Oren Fischer, focusing on art, activism and community. Hosted by the Bezalel Acad emy of Arts and Design in Jaffa, evacu ated students who were supposed to be gin their third and final year at Tel-Hai met weekly to enjoy moments of tran quility and creativity. In the framework of this program, the evacuated students were asked to express their feelings and protest their situation through creative tools. The loss of home

– replaced by temporary accommoda tions, the familiar exchanged for the un familiar, awakening feelings of alienation and fear – these created a great void and sense of displacement. Being evacuated from their homes, living nomadic lives, the displaced persons were forced to find a place that would restore a sense of home. “It aims to instill in them an understanding of the broader power of art to create a social and educational climate of possibilities for self-expression, Over the course of the sessions, stu dents interacted with lecturers and guest artists who blend art with activism. At the conclusion of these sessions, the stu dents, working collaboratively in small groups, produced art projects that re flected their experiences. Each group produced an activist-artistic action in both the public and the inter-personal domains, with the intention of impacting their environment, generating dialogue, and engaging with the burning issues of the hour. Projects of video art, paintings, ceram ics, engravings, and sculptures were cre ated outside, beyond the walls of the studio, beyond the walls of home, and were later transferred and displayed at an exhibition space in Jaffa. Noteworthy among the art works are: acceptance, and flexible, creative thinking beyond their own artistic selves”

A Refugee in My Own Land This installation was born from a longing for one’s own shower, symbolizing the loss of the privacy of home and life be fore the war. For those displaced, private rituals became public in the absence of

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