28/5/2014
The Infiltrators
Artport, Tel Aviv
The exhibition examines the local and global state of asylum seekers and refugees through works created with the participation of communities of asylum seekers in Israel and elsewhere in the world.
curated by Maayan Sheleff
Artists: Daniel Landau, Paul Poet, Ghana ThinkTank, Documentary Embroidery
In Israel, the term "infiltrators" is used to describe the transgression of the country's political borders in order to commit a terrorist act, while the more general meaning of this term describes the hostile crossing of enemy lines or the covert transgression of a given territory's borders for the purpose of espionage, a political coup, or a gradual conquest. At present, this term is commonly used to refer to Africans who have crossed the border from Africa into Israel; alongside additional terms such as "refugees," "asylum seekers," and "immigrant workers," it plays an important role in the discussion of the status and future of these groups. In this context, the term "infiltrators" fixes the status of border crossers as that of liminal subjects, who remain trapped between here and there, citizens of a no place.
The exhibition "The Infiltrators" examines the local and global state of asylum seekers and refugees through works created with the participation of communities of asylum seekers in Israel and elsewhere in the world. But the exhibition title plays a double role, since it aspires to look at the included art projects as constituting an act of infiltration. The featured artists attempt to undermine existing stereotypes by enacting different forms of participation, thus questioning common perceptions of the complex state of asylum seekers or refugees. These artists infiltrate the communal or public sphere as outlaws or cunning spies, and cross the thin line between reality and fiction in order to examine and destabalize the power relations that control and define this sphere. They search for the fissures within dichotomies, for the liminal spaces between points of contention, and linger within these borderline spheres.
The featured projects reflect a range of participatory strategies that do not shy away from provoking conflict and walking the thin line between the ethic and the aesthetic. They examine different circles of participation, from communities that take part in the creation of a project in the public sphere, to gallery viewers who become participants. By means of these four works, “The Infiltrators” attempts to examine participatory art's forms of representation and display as well as its limitations, while probing the relations between artist, community, and audience.
The exhibition catalogue will include Claire Bishop's article, "Participation and Spectacle: Where Are We Now?" (2012), translated to Hebrew and Arabic. We would like to thank Claire Bishop, Creative Time Books and The MIT Press for their permission to publish it.
More about the works:
http://www.artportlv.org/blog/infiltrators
Friday, 30.05, 12.00-14.00- Gallery talk with Ghana ThinkTank, curator Maayan Sheleff and participants from GTT's project in South Tel Aviv
About the Gallery Talk:
Ghana ThinkTank (Christopher Robbins, John Ewing, and Maria del Carmen Montoya from the US), was established in 2006 as an international network of think tanks producing strategies for the solution of local problems in the "developed" world.
The founding principle was that think tanks in the so-called "third world" could offer solutions to "first-world" problems, as a way to expose the assumptions and power dynamics of cross- cultural work, particularly charity, aid and international development. They later discovered that this process could serve to create encounters between groups in conflict, and to produce unexpected alliances.
For “the Infiltrators”, think tanks composed of asylum seekers from Eritrea and Sudan offered solutions to the problems of Israelis from the south of Tel Aviv, and vice versa. The process evolved over the course of several months, and included conversations with dozens of residents and asylum seekers who raised problems ranging from dirty dog parks to racism. The installation at the Artport Gallery attempts to follow the processes undertaken by means of documentation, sculptural representations, and a series of workshops that will mobilize people out of the gallery and into the public sphere of south Tel Aviv, and vice versa.
at the Gallery talk, John and chris from Ghana ThinkTank will discuss their work process and specifically the project in south Tel Aviv. participants from the Eritrean, Sudanese and Israeli think tanks will talk about it from their own point of view.
Participants in Ghana ThinkTank's project in south Tel :Aviv
Sudanese Think Tank
Adam Ahmed, Adam Arbab, Ahmed Mirsal Adam, Anwar Suliman Arbab, Arbab Abakar, Bashor Mohammad Salah, Jamal Omer, Zakaria Mohammed Abdallah Saleh , Hassan Butora Rahima, Hassan Ahmed Shakur, Yeman Adam, Muhamed Haron Abker, Noureldin Mohammed Adam, Adil Aldao
Eritrean Think Tank
Binyam Gikidan, Habtom Kiflom Tesfamariam, Sulumani Mohammed, Samrawit Solomon, Philipos Tesfai, Shiden Kitiai, Tomass Gabrab, Teklit Michael
Israeli Think Tank
Or Levi, Yael Ben- Yefet, Maayan Ravid, Sophie Menashe, Ivry Baumgarten, Robert Ungar, Rachel Priel, Shira Dushy, and others.
The project was created in collaboration with Maayan Sheleff
Community organizer- Yael Ravid
The vertical gardens are in collaboration with “Urban Environment Nursery - onya city”
The Neve Shaanan tour is in collaboration with Nisan Almog
Participants in Daniel landau's project:
Gumar Baker Tahe Din, Adam Muhamad, Adam Kamis, Adam Keler, Abdul Hamud Josef
Opening event- Thursday, 29.05.2014- 20.00
Music- DJ Eyal rob
Artport
55 Ben Tsvi Rd., Tel Aviv
Wednesday and Thursday 19:00-21:00
Friday and Saturday 11:00-16:00