The main exhibition of the 2018 Manofim Festival will take place in Talbiya neighborhood, located in the heart of Jerusalem, on the edge of the city center. Talbiya is a beautiful neighborhood. Green, well-groomed and quiet. Outwardly, it looks like a drowsy and comfortable suburb. But in fact, the neighborhood consists of many layers that store diverse historical narratives. Established in the 19th century by wealthy Palestinian Arab Christians, Talbiya reached its architectural peak in the 1920s. Beautiful Arab villas still stand in the neighborhood to this day, a vestige of its history. After the 1948 War, Palestinian residents who once led a full and rich cultural life in the neighborhood were forced to abandon their homes and flee. It was subsequently populated mostly by Israeli Jews. From its establishment to today, Talbiya has always been a bourgeois neighborhood. Its residents then and now are by and large professionals, academics, diplomats, and government officials.

Today, in addition to being a Jerusalemite residential neighborhood, it is also home to an unusual assortment of institutions that coexist side by side in the same space. From distinguished national institutions such as the President’s Residence and the Prime Minister’s Residence, through the surprising concentration of research institutes, including the Van Leer Institute, the Institute of the Israel Psychoanalytic Society, the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research, and others, to cultural institutions like the Museum of Islamic Art. The exhibition wishes to turn the spotlight to the intriguing and stratified sphere of Talbiya neighborhood.

Properties will be held in several buildings throughout the neighborhood – both private homes and public buildings, and aim to set in motion a reflexive process centered on Talbiya, its institutions, and buildings. The exhibition sets out at the contradictions contained in the neighborhood’s DNA from its nascence and point to the blind spots that hamper its residents and visitors. Through various art actions, the exhibition will introduce critical questions that call for a reexamination of this exceptional, multi-faceted space whose residents may have come see as mundane and banal.

Among the participants: Etti Abergel, Yaniv Amar, Hanan Armaly Haddad, Nadav Assor, Ron Asulin, Maya Attoun, Hannan Abu-Hussein, Michal Baror and Patrick Hough (Irland), Anwar Ben Badis,  Aya Ben Ron, Hamody Gannam, Adam Kaplan and Nir Shauloff, Elham Rokni, Rona Sela, Nardeen Srouji, The Archaeology of the Address: An Academic Research by Prof. Tovi Fenster and Dr. Hagit Keysar, Jumana Manna and more.

Curators: Rinat Edelstein and Le Hee Shulov

Associate curator and producer: Hadassa Cohen

Opening location and information center: The Museum for Islamic Art, 2 Hapalmach St.

Additional locations: Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research, Israel Psychoanalytic Society, Van Leer Jerusalem Institute,1 David Marcus St., 11 David Marcus St.

Opening hours:

Tue 12:00-16:00; Thu 15:00-19:00; Fri 10:00-14:00

For inquiries: manofim.jerusalem@gmail.com

Exhibition Catalog:

Exhibiton Map: (Click on the picture to see it in full size)