Exhibitions

Giovanni Battista Piranesi was active in Rome in the mid-18th century, at a time when the city attracted intellectuals from all over Europe who gathered against the backdrop of its celebrated centuries-old buildings. In his time, Rome was one of the major centers of the Enlightenment: a mandatory destination on the Grand Tour undertaken by members of the aristocracy to explore the cultural capitals of Europe, and a focal point for the study of classical culture for artists and intellectuals. Piranesi created countless etchings in Rome featuring the city's sights, making a name for himself throughout Europe. The Haifa Museum of Art collection is blessed with a considerable selection of these etchings.

Our home, and the objects in it, tell stories: in the kitchen cupboard there is a partial set of dishes, some broke during a move; in the living room there is a worn sofa, which has taken the shape of the body due to overuse; on the wall behind it are pictures of smiling relatives, some still alive, others no longer. Our favorite people and things are usually found in our living environment, and a representation of the interior shows everything that we love and fear for.

My room is my best place. We decide what to hang on the walls in it, we keep the most important things in it, and we close ourselves in it when we want to be only with ourselves.
We invite you to show us what your room looks like, or the room of your dreams: draw the room on a postcard, and be sure to describe the objects and details that make it your special place, different from all other rooms.

Wadi - is a hydrologic geological formation, and a term in Arabic, Hebrew, and English describing different forms of seasonal flow, associated with areas with little precipitation.
In Haifa, however, a wadi is also a mental state; the city's wadis are used for momentary respites from the routine, for various games, and for alternative community gatherings. At the same time, they also embed darkness, all sorts of waste, and complex ecosystems of flora and fauna, which exist in a world parallel to everyday life.
The exhibition addresses different manifestations of this alternate universe.

The exhibition juxtaposes three works by international artists delving into the universal characteristics of the gestures of the protesting body, with four series of photographs from four significant protests in local history.

Artist Jaro Varga came from Prague to Haifa three times during the last year, visits which he spent tracing the footsteps of famous Germans and German culture in the city. A past visitor who attracted him in particular was author Karl May, who came to Haifa in 1899.

Imagine a train ride across a pristine landscape. There is no building, no factory, not even a road in sight. Nothing. Just hills and sand. Through the train window it seems like a place untouched by human hands, but this is obviously an illusion. If we were to stand in the landscape and look towards the train, we would see that the landscape is scarred with iron tracks. Our environment is nearly always shaped by people, who add their own touch to nature, and there is almost no place that is truly natural. But what if humans and nature could live together in better harmony?
You are welcome to design the mountain yourself: plant trees on its slopes and peek into the secrets it reveals through the windows hanging above. Join the ride through the designed landscape to observe it from the inside out and from the outside in.

Oded Hirsch's works are based on detailed scripts for absurd situations. He invents challenges and problems that need to be solved, providing a complete scenario for their solution. The solution is usually just as far-fetched as the challenge, and the works leave the viewer wondering about the very necessity of these actions: Why is it necessary to pull out a tractor buried in the ground, lift it upwards, and introduce it into the museum?
The pulse and breathing rates are among the vital signs by which physicians determine whether a person is healthy, sick, or dead. The vital signs are directly affected by one's emotional state: they change in moments of calm or excitement, fear or infatuation. The exhibition features some of the real products of these vital signs in works of art from the past twenty years. Lines, lights, and sounds are generated as the work of art is adapted to the heartbeats and the cycle of inhalation-exhalation, which determine the structure of the work. This rhythm—whether calm and regular, fast and fidgety, or completely still—may guide one into the depths of consciousness. Alternatively, it can make us conscious of those who are bleeding or those who have been deprived of air to breathe.

Over the past year, Chen Cohen photographed her medical routine in various clinics and at the Bnei Zion Medical Center in Haifa. She focused on the medical instruments and her encounters with the medical staff—meetings intended to treat the body, which were full of tenderness and compassion, healing the soul, too. She did not document the treatments from a seemingly objective position, or one that emphasizes the difficulty of being the object of a medical examination, but rather performed for the camera. She came to the check-ups as a healing shaman, always dressed in the same long black dress, which is contrasted with the white space. The camera she installed in the clinic transformed the event into an artistic act addressing beauty and love.

The works presented in these two exhibitions are the result of activities carried out over the past year by three artists of the "Space for Community Art." This program at the Haifa Museums encourages artistic practice that is attentive to the place and the local community, initiating processes in the city's neighborhoods, which reinforce art's social power and increase the public need for art. As part of this program, artists based in the greater Haifa area, selected by a professional committee, receive close curatorial support as well as conceptual and practical training for artistic action in the community. Community members participating in the project play a substantial part in the artistic process.