The first day of the festival began at our home, the place where Manofim was conceived: Art Cube Artists’ Studios in Talpiot, a structure that is undergoing significant expansion this year. As part of the opening night, we laid two cornerstones for the building, its surroundings and for us: the first, the inauguration of the rooftop towards its transformation into a meeting place for local art and communities, and the second, the establishment of a bilingual children’s club for art under the nearby Moshe Baram Bridge.
These two significant projects were be launched on special occasions in honor of the festival: on the roof we celebrated a decade (!) of the online art magazine Harama (which was also conceived in the corridors of the workshops…) The journal that, over the course of ten years, has become an extensive public archive of Israeli art, had “stepped out of the screen” for one evening and held live in front of an audience for the first time, under the theme “Active Substance”. Artists activated visual and sonic materials, cross gender boundaries, liberated consciousness and celebrated matter on the coolest rooftop in the industrial zone.
The space under the bridge were inaugurated with “the Magical Land of the Bridge” – an art club for Arabic- and Hebrew-speaking children and families from east and west of the city. In the club we met friendly and colorful creatures and together with them we faced our fears, made new connections, and learnt to know each other through art, story and imagination. The club, like the rooftop, continued its activities throughout the entire year and was the result of effort and cooperation between us and local residents, educational initiatives and people who dream of a pleasant shared space that would embrace all types of populations.
In the same evening we began the “First Reveal” events which accompanied us throughout the festival. These events featured presentations of works in progress that are currently being created in Jerusalem and have not yet been presented to the general public, this is a spectacular opportunity to experience what is currently happening in the local studios through a direct encounter with the artists who create them. To be exposed to the stories behind the works, the thought processes, the creative practices, the shaping of the material, the sources of inspiration and more. This year, ten established and emerging artists were selected, from diverse mediums located in a variety of areas of the city.
The Jerusalem Art Conference #7, which has already become a tradition, is expanding to two days and outside the borders of the country, and was be dedicated to the place of art in relation to international and local political, climate and technological issues. Among the many lectures, we also hosted two panels on current issues with international guests: one was be dedicated to the Documenta exhibition in Kassel, Germany, taking place this summer and has caused many discussions and scandals, and the other was be dedicated to the situation of artists in times of crisis, war and displacement, with the participation of artists from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.
On our website you could find information about dozens of new exhibitions that are opened and was presented throughout the city as well as special events that take place in the various galleries. In order to experience them up close, we highly recommended Manofim Tours – a fascinating array of tours that combine the various exhibitions, each at a different location and this year with a special emphasis on the history of the city’s art. Each of the tours was led by a professional guide who are familiar with the secrets of the city and would take you to the surprising places that Jerusalem and its art have to offer.
And last but not least, “The Mixer”, the musical line produced especially for the festival, which mixes art and music, East and West, old and new with exciting connections between artists from Jerusalem and inspiring locations! We presented Echo in a digital performance alongside an opening act by Avizohar, who both came to raise the roof of the Art Cube Artists’ Studios in Talpiot, Sima Nun who hosted J. Lamotta for a turned up hip-hop show that was opened by the Jerusalem Hype crew with showcases of local rappers and freestyle cyphers, and finally an analog show in the intoxicating open air of Hansen House where the El Khat band hosted Riff Cohen for a Parisian flavored Yemenite groove and the princess of the Maghreb, Khen Elmaleh, would take good care of you with a rare DJ set homaging tape music.
Thank you to all the artists, galleries, exhibition spaces, independent groups, directors of the institutions, and to the many supporters and friends who have accompanied us for fourteen years – without you this festival would not have been possible.
See you at the exhibitions and events!
Rinat Edelstein and Lee He Shulov
