International art biennial part of Tel Aviv-Yafo’s centennial celebrations
Art TLV 09
Tel Aviv- Yafo, Israel
September 10 – September 24, 2009
Professional Preview September 9
Art TLV, the International art biennial to be held September 10–24, 2009, will be the main art event of Tel Aviv-Yafo’s centennial celebrations, featuring leading contemporary Israeli and International artists creating exhibitions, installations, performances, screenings and talks throughout the city.Following the success of the first edition of Art TLV in 2008, Art TLV biennial now coincides with the Athens and Istanbul biennials to foster contemporary art experimentation and exchange in the Mediterranean cultural triangle. Art TLV 09 will be attended by curators, writers, and art enthusiasts from around the world to explore the city’s bourgeoning contemporary art scene, World Heritage Architecture, and the multiple culture identities and developments in the city.
The 100th Anniversary of Tel Aviv is the starting point for a festival that addresses visual representations and layers of the Modern City as explored through constant construction and deconstruction. Works by 40 Israeli and international artists deal with myths, materials and concepts connected to Tel Aviv Artists include Sigalit Landau, Yael Bartana, Jan Tichy, Yochai Avrahami, Nira Pereg, Michal Ullman, Miri Segal, Francis Alys, Shahar Yahalom, Sharon Yaari, Sue Mei Tse, Carlos Garaicoa, Kader Attia, Allora e Calzadilla, Laurence Weiner, Smadar Dreyfus, Liron Rotman, Ann Liselgaard, Efrat Kedem, Fikret Atay, Michal Neeamn, Toony Navok, Aharon Ozeri, Grazia Toderi, and many more.
Art TLV’s main site is in a pre-Tel Aviv era Templar settlement that now sits alongside modern residential buildings. The exhibition lies at the intersection of Tel Aviv’s first neighborhood called Neve Tzedek, the Arab city of Jaffa, and the industrial area Florentin. A series of outdoor exhibition throughout the city and along the beach will feature projects that address ideas of mapping. Highlights include: Mushon Zer-Aviv & Lailah El-Haddad‘s “You’re Not Here” allowing participants to virtually tour Gaza while walking through the streets of Tel Aviv with a double-sided map of both cities and cell phone audio tours corresponding to numbers in the streets; Ilan Green’s sonic installation using sounds and voices recorded in the historic Ahuzat Bait neighborhood; and Eran Shakin‘s digital sculpture between Jaffa and Tel Aviv that will change according to the sea’s tides. Ex-Territory is a project by Halas Online Radio and Maarav online art magazine that brings together Palestinian and Israeli artists for discussions and screenings dealing with questions of territory, personal and group identities, nationalism and globalization, and legal and illegal issues. The project will then be expanded to other world regions of conflict.
On view at the Helena Rubinstein Pavilion, at the Tel Aviv Museum, is a show of acquisitions curated by Ellen Ginton with works by Ohad Meromi, Tamy Ben-Tor, Nahum Tevet and Guy Ben-Ner. Second Show: Contemporary Art from The Israel Museum, Jerusalem will be presented at the Mani House, now Bank Leumi, one of the first houses built in Tel Aviv in 1909. A selection of Israeli and international works addressing ideas of introspection, fantasy worlds, myths, and reflections about the history of art and culture by artists including Pierre Bismuth, Claire Fontaine, Erez Israeli, Efrat Natan, Pipilotti Rist, Ugo Rondinone, Mika Rottenberg, and Shai Zurim.
The Curators of Art TLV 09 Biennial:
Edna Moshenson leads the Biennial curatorial team and is an Independent Curator and former Senior Curator at Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Maayan Sheleff is curator of the non-profit gallery Line 16, and directs the Kalisher Art School curatorial studies program in Tel Aviv. Michael Kessus Gedalyovich is an artist, curator and chief editor of Maarav online art magazine, and previous director of Omanot La’am’s art department, an art organization that brings art to Israel’s periphery. Said Abu Shakra is an artist, curator, and Director of the Art Gallery in Um El Fahem, the first gallery in the Arab city in Israel exhibiting original Arab and Palestinian art and providing art education to the local community. He is currently working on a project to build Israel’s first Arab museum of modern art in Um El Fahem, designed by Amnon Bar-Or.
Information:
Media contact: Eila Eitan Public Relations, 011.972.3.604.1114, omerl@eilaeitan.co.il
VIP schedule & contact: arttlv.guests@gmail.com
Read about Art TLV 08 in Artforum Diary and press coverage on www.artisrael.org
