Capturing Israel: An Artistic Exploration of the Nation’s History

Cost: $60 for all 6 sessions or $15 for each individual sessions.

Session 1 with Sagi Refael

Sunday, March 26 | 11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

at a Private location (in Baltimore) that will be shared with registrants prior to the event

Mimosas and Refreshments will be offered

About Sagi Refael: an established art historian, curator and educator, specializing in curatorial guidance for artists and collectors. In 2017 he founded IAILA (Israeli Art in Los Angeles), a private initiative dedicated to cultural exchange and artistic cross-pollination between Israel and the USA.
About this lecture: This lecture will present the Zionist movement’s role in forming an identity of the “New Jew” in the emerging new land, and the conflict between creating a new visual aesthetic based on the region’s history, in contrast to voices that are aimed to be international. The lecture will incorporate historical images alongside contemporary interpretations and approaches by living artists today.

Session 2 with Zemer Peled

Sunday, April 16 | 11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

at Zemer Peled’s art studio in Baltimore (TBD on address)

About Zemer Peled: earned her MA at the Royal College of Art (UK), and BA at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design (Jerusalem, IL). Her work is found in many private collections around the world and museum collections, such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Fuller Craft Museum; Crocker Art Museum; and the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation in Malibu, California.
About this lecture:  Gain a rare glimpse into the practice of Zemer Peled, an internationally known sculptor, in her Baltimore studio. Peled will discuss how growing up in Israel has influenced on her practice, as well as the ways in which archeology and the Kibbbutz lifestyle inspired her work.

Session 3 with Zoya Cherkassky-Nnadi

Sunday, June 4 | 12:00 – 2:00 p.m.

via ZOOM

About Zoya Cherkassky-Nnadi: One of Israel’s most esteemed artists. Her works bring together languages stemming from ‘high’ and ‘low’ cultures, academic and pop aesthetics. With irony and self-critique and in a variety of forms of expression, she articulates social perspectives and engages the viewers both with humor and message.
About this lecture: Praised by New York Times art critic Roberta Smith as “rich and complex”, Zoya Cherkassky’s work explores and presents the lesser-known sides of the 1991 Immigration of Jews from the former USSR to Israel. By diving into personal and collective memories and traumas, during this lecture she will humorously suggest ways to acknowledge and understand the tensions between different parts of Israeli society.

Session 4 with Naama Shefi

Sunday, June 25 | 12:00 – 2:00 p.m.

via ZOOM

About Naama Shefi: Naama Shefi is a kibbutznik and New Yorker, whose work sits at the intersection of food, culture, community building, and art. In 2017, she founded the Jewish Food Society, which preserves and celebrates Jewish culinary heritage through a digital recipe archive and dynamic events. Previously, she curated programs promoting Israeli and Jewish culinary culture through the hit pop-up “The Kubbeh Project.” Naama also immersed herself in start-up culture as the marketing director of EatWith, which hosts pop-ups in 160 cities.
About this lecture: In the lecture, Naama Shefi will discuss the ways in which the “Israeli Cuisine” has been formed through the years as a manifestation of the “Melting Pot” ideology of the early days of Israeli politics. We’ll explore the following questions: Is there an Israeli cuisine? Who created it and why is it so popular internationally in recent years? What were the effects of the economics, culture, fashion and multicultural exposure on the daily culinary in Israel, then and now?