Interactive AR sculpture, collaboration with comparative literature Prof. A.E. Torres, Yiddishland pavilion
"Quasi-Territory" is a term that embodies a nation's meta-space defined by language and literature, transcending physical borders. The interactive AR motion sculpture is inspired by this concept. It comprises three languages, representing their interconnected evolution over time. It was created as a soft intervention in the German pavilion and stands for the cultural exchange with Germany, serving as a poignant reminder of the historical Jewish presence there. Curated by M. Veits and Y. Fiks, the Yiddishland pavilion challenges conventional national divisions at the Venice Art Biennale.
A Mural at the Union Complex / Frankfurt / 2024
Inspired by Debora Vogel’s poetry and Michael Landes's architectural vision, the "Buildings at Night" mural at the Union Complex blends urban scenes, nature, and geometric forms. Reflecting themes of alienation, nostalgia, and belonging, it aligns with Landes's community-focused design. Set in Frankfurt, the mural interweaves a Yiddish poem with multiple languages, symbolizing the dialogue between tradition and modernity, and reflective of the various communities residing in Frankfurt. This linguistic blend mirrors the Union Complex's architectural diversity, bridging past, present, and future in a continuous narrative.
Curated by Celena Ohmer
Support and facilitation: Ardi Goldman
Assistance: Raha Jabari
A performance Exploring Cultural Memory and Identity Through A Multisensory Encounter.
Part of a series of Yiddish poetry readings in Haus für Poesie, Kulturbrauerei, Knaackstr. 97, 10435 Berlin
A collaboration with David Omar Cohen, Daniel Kahn, and Beruriah Wiegand.
Curated by Jordan Lee Schnee
Mixed-media Installation
What is the magnitude of impact of Jewish ancient literature on modern Jewish identities worldwide? Exposure of the absence of women and misogynistic tendencies within Rabbinic literature and ritual is achieved in a multi-faceted collaborative installation, incorporating poetry, sculpture, painting, and sound, all elements alluding to the Talmud (500 CE), a foundational text in Jewish cultural life, deeply ingrained in contemporary Jewish thought worldwide. It serves as a formal guideline for the Rabbinic and Israeli legal systems, which are characterised by male supremacy and sexism. The installation takes on the responsibility of repositioning the narrative by displaying and deconstructing an original copy of tractate Sotah of the Women's Order, which describes one of the most brutal rituals in Rabbinic literature. Using a technique titled Erasure Poetry it effaces and reinterprets the standard version and reshapes the discourse. Primarily it layers diverse perspectives of thinkers and creators of different backgrounds, generations, and fields, such as Y. Wallach's poetry on the walls and R. Neis's reflective contribution, critically examining the construction and regulation of gender in the tradition as in current times.
Created in the frame of “Broken”, LABA Berlin fellowship program final exhibition, in CLB Berlin, 2022
Stage talk: Ann Cotten and Ella Ponizovsky Bergelson in Klingspor Museum, Offenbach am Main.
Part of the event series TEXT MATTERS. MATTERS OF TEXT.
Language and script come from everywhere. They know centers and edges, are accent and dominance, dialect and slang, migration and expansion. They materialize as analog bestsellers and marginalized literature, as radio sound and as the rap of a new avant-garde, as quickly written comments, as prayers, as requests for answers, on paper and in pixels.
The notion that language change with its constantly new ways of speaking marks the end of script is a surprisingly resilient myth of our present time. For never have there been more texts than today. They have changed their form and expanded into new habitats unnoticed.
TEXT MATTERS. MATTERS OF TEXT, a festival on the materiality of language, addresses the question of what substance contemporary texts are made of and how they manifest in our everyday lives.
Curated by PRÄPOSITION
Series of Four Limited Edition (1-6) Linocut Prints on Paper | 2017
Berlin, 205x300 mm, Frankfurt, 230x300 mm, Cologne, 200x300 mm, Munich, 200x300 mm
"Four Cities" illuminates shared experiences of displacement and the quest for belonging in the German context, fostering a dialogue that transcend political divides.
Within the series, each depicts a title in Arabic of a German city known for its substantial Arabic and Jewish population; Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne and Munich. Created in 2017, these works emerge against the backdrop of significant migration and refugee movements from both Arabic and Jewish backgrounds, fluxing in 2015, and profoundly impacting Germany’s social structure.
The text within is deliberately mirrored, reflecting on the parallel narratives between Jewish and Arabic traditions and histories of displacement, yet underscoring their collective alienation from the mainstream German cultural landscape. The mirroring technique emphasises the complex interplay of integration and distinctiveness that characterises the relationship between these communities and their host country.
By employing this reflective visual strategy, the series conveys themes of identity, belonging, and the nuanced dialogue between assimilation and cultural preservation. "Four Cities" invites viewers to consider the deep-seated connections that transcend geographical and cultural divides, while simultaneously confronting the realities of diaspora and displacement.
Exodus of Language / 2023
There is a silent story behind morphing glyphs. The letterforms as visual elements, and their interconnectedness, offer contemplation on their origins, amalgamation, and evolution. The image is an element in a five-part artwork that was created as a contribution to the scholarly journal set to be published later this year: "The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Migration." Accompanying the works is an article that delves into the migration and integration of typography. The extinction of languages and alphabets is examined in the context of imperial power dynamics. Central is the evolution of Hebrew typography and the external influences involved in it, such as geopolitical shifts and exile. Which comprehensions can be retrieved while tracing origins of glyphs and their symbolism, delving into the depths of history of writing systems?
The original ink-on-paper pieces are replicated as a limited edition Riso prints on fine paper, numbered & Signed.
Mon Ami Weimar
A live performance involving the on-stage writing and deletion of text, accompanied by live music in a dialog with the act on stage,
The evening was dedicated to the "Night of the Murdered Poets," commemorating the execution of Yiddish writers, including Dovid Bergelson, in 1952.
The performance centered on the writing and erasing of Bergelson's story "Among Refugees" (Berlin, 2022). The act symbolized the cultural erasure following these executions, highlighting the fragility and loss of cultural heritage through the physical act of writing and erasing, mirroring historical attempts to obliterate a culture by elicvidating its writers, and urging reflection on the importance of preserving and honoring marginalized histories.
Acrylic paint on wall, Pathos Theatre
Imagine walls could speak. Through the dynamic interaction of the letters and words, the technique employed in Wordscapes eschews linear structures and rejects binary perception while preserving readability. The site-specific mural series integrates poetry authored by prominent poets CAConrad, So Mayer, Laurie Anderson, and Lotta Thießen into the architectural fabric of the theatre, a distinguished cultural institution known for fostering avant-garde and experimental theatrical and performative art forms. By uniting these artistic expressions with poetry, the project exemplifies their collective commitment to pushing the boundaries of communication. This endeavour aspires to transcend traditional linguistic constraints by transforming language into visual experiences, thereby challenging conventional notions of literature and verbal exchange.
Facade paint on wall. Reinickendorf, Tempelhof, Spandau
A series of three multilingual murals (Yiddish, Arabic, German, English) seeks to infuse new life into the poetic critique of urbanity by the overlooked Yiddish philosopher and poet Debora Vogel (1902 Bursztyn - 1942 Lvov Ghetto) by reinterpreting and integrating it back into the the fabric of urban environments. Vogel's geometrically repetitive and minimalist poetics, guided by principles as boredom and melancholy, captures the essence of human struggles in the urban milieu of her era, drawing remarkable parallels with contemporaneous global challenges such as the pandemic, resurgence of fascism, economic crises, and migration-related distress. The montages are a form of visual poetry that resist easy consumption as languages are interwoven. They create an interplay between past and present as they reflect on contemporary events in Berlin’s public realms. Viewers are invited to embrace complexity as they are challenged by unconventional, dynamic and abstract language.
——
Locations & Dates:
16-17.03.2021
Klemkestraße 10, 13409 Berlin-Reinickendorf
Lime paint and on plaster, Mensch Meier, Prenzlauer Berg. Lime paint on brick, ZK/U (Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik), Der Güterbahnhof Moabit. Facade paint on ceramic wall, Kindl Brauerei, Neukölln.
Prose as Hybrid Calligraphy in the Public Space of Berlin
A series of temporary site-specific murals in three public locations inspired by the Yiddish writer Dovid Bergelson's story "Among Refugees" (1923) my great-grandfather who lived in Berlin in the 1920s. The murals visually blend languages (Yiddish, German, Arabic) symbolising Berlin's past, as present, cultural hybridity. Each mural presents a looped sentence from the story, chosen to resonate with the building's past and present, all tied together by the theme of transition and temporality. Owing to the deliberate selection of paint in conjunction with the material properties of the walls, the murals are subject to a gradual fading and eventual disappearance, with the rate of decay varying among them. All locations hold historical significance, however, ZK/U stands out as the building functioned as a deportation station during World War II, where over 30,000 Jewish Berliners were sent to forced labour, and extermination camps.
Wall paint on concrete
Abstract calligraphy murals across Mexico City, commissioned by R. Shimizu, collector and curator of MUJAM, the world's largest toy collection, founded in 1955, showcasing Mexican culture and history through the perspective of commercial and artisan games and toys.
Production and assistance by @z_y.a.n.y_a
Al-Quds (القدس)
Oil paint on concrete ground, 10x10 m
The Jerusalem Biennale / 2019
Part of The Jerusalem Biennale of Art, 2019. Hebrew and Arabic hybrid calligraphy mural on the ground of the first railway station in Jerusalem.
The station was built in 1892 as the area was ruled by the Ottoman empire. Since, it has changed its function many times, as the city was conquered and changed its authorities over and over. Al-Quds is the official name of Jerusalem in the arabic world. The simple action of spelling it in Hebrew letters is considered as wildly unreasonable, illogical and inappropriate by most of the city's residents. It evoked public discussions and debates regarding the historical and contemporary role of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel as of Palestine.
—
Day Figures
Limewash paint on glass
Curation: José Délano, Lianne Mol, Yael Sherill
For the duration of a long afternoon on Saturday July 11th, we pushed the pause button. The walls, windows, gardens, streets and parks of Berlin-Kreuzberg were occupied through a series of public interventions in which artists, thinkers and other players opened up their private thinking to the public.
My participation involved inscripting the poem "Querschnitt / Cross Section'' of Polish philosopher and poet Deborah Vogel (1902 – 1942) on a prominent street-facing display. It is part of her 1930 Yiddish collection "Day Figures" and serves to accentuate Vogel's experimental poetic inclination, characterised by a radical and austere demeanour reflective of the prevailing artistic tendencies of the era. Beyond the customary themes of contemporaneous Yiddish poetry, Vogel intentionally defies convention, particularly evident through her use of the Yiddish language and avant-garde aesthetic, thereby situating herself beyond the confines of the Polish literary canon. Her central poetic experimentation centres on the concept of 'white words,' an innovative technique aimed at generating a unique mode of urban-informed lyricism. This approach seeks to create a fresh form of lyrical expression that responds to the exigencies of the urban landscape, yielding abstract imagery depicting static urban scenarios.
Lime paint on glass, Klingspor Museum & City Library
A window can be both a conduit for light and knowledge, as well as a means of surveillance or control. It serves as a transparent barrier, allowing one to observe and perceive the outside world while maintaining separation. A site-specific ephemeral intervention allowing glimpses into an alternative perspective, utilising the Hebrew poem "Black Magic" authored by the contemporary Israeli poet Adi Keissar, who delves into pertinent matters surrounding ethnic inequality in the Israeli context.
A part of ChaiOF
In collaboration with Klingspor Museum & Stadtbibliothek Offenbach am Main
Preparation for the mural project Present Figures / Berlin 2021
All images are 100x70 cm, acrylic on paper
The typeface ATALAYA BLOCK is a hybrid combining methods from several ancient alphabet & symbol systems around the globe.
It is inspired by the album La doma del Dragón by Andres Barlesi aka ATALAYA released on Kinship.
It is a linocut handprint. Now available as a live font.
Wall paint on wall, Zeit Zone Galerie
The exhibition “The Blue-Inked Quill - Berliner Grandfathers” featured artworks rooted in Berlin-associated Yiddish poetry. The central installation is "My Paper Bridge," a piece inspired by a 1930’s poem authored by Kadia Molodowsky (1894 - 1975). This artwork translates the poem into ancient Hebrew glyphs dating back to 600 BCE, employing a primary colour palette.
Book Cover Illustration / 2021
Yiddish Writers in Weimar Berlin:
A Fugitive Modernism by Marc Caplan
Indiana University Press, 2021
Caplan's masterful narrative affords new insights into literary form, Jewish culture, and the philosophical and psychological motivations for aesthetic modernism.
In Yiddish Writers in Weimar Berlin, Marc Caplan explores the reciprocal encounter between Eastern European Jews and German culture in the days following World War I. By concentrating primarily on a small group of avant-garde Yiddish writers—Dovid Bergelson, Der Nister, and Moyshe Kulbak—working in Berlin during the Weimar Republic, Caplan examines how these writers became central to modernist aesthetics. By concentrating on the character of Yiddish literature produced in Weimar Germany, Caplan offers a new method of seeing how artistic creation is constructed and a new understanding of the political resonances that result from it.
Yiddish Writers in Weimar Berlin reveals how Yiddish literature participated in the culture of Weimar-era modernism, how active Yiddish writers were in the literary scene, and how German-speaking Jews read descriptions of Yiddish-speaking Jews to uncover the emotional complexity of what they managed to create even in the midst of their confusion and ambivalence in Germany.
An art project curated as a newspaper by the artist Hadas Tapuchi | 2017
I have collaborated with Hadas creating the calligraphic logo and visual appearance.
The first issue was launched at the exhibition Sites & Memories at IG Bildende Kunst art gallery, Vienna.
5 tennis tables, Selina Hotel at the lake Kinneret | 2019
A hybrid calligraphy intervention in PHV, Heidelberg, an abandoned American residential area for military personnel.
The project was created as part of:
Jüdisch-Muslimische Kulturtage Heidelberg
Metropolink Urbanartfestival
In collaboration with:
Hochschule für Jüdische Studien Heidelberg
Die Muslimische Akademie Heidelberg i. G.
Kulturhaus Karlstorbahnhof Heidelberg
Ink and watercolor on paper, 295x320 mm | 2016
Ink, acrylic and aquarelle on paper / 2020
A series, inspired by the poem Exhaustion by Debora Vogel (1902- 1942)
Hybrid Calligraphy Mural, JCC East Bay, Berkeley, California
Acrylic on concrete, 1400 x 240 cm | 2018
The mural which was created during The Peleh Residency period, is an abstract that integrates Hebrew and English core typography elements. It was created to mirror the hybridity of the children who frequent the community center that mostly belong to bilingual homes.
Naa Chan Kan / 2022
ink on paper, digital intervention
Included in the first Hooops publication "Plant Magic: Poison & Remedy" released in Zabriskie Buchladen, Berlin.
The piece is a visual interpretation of the commonly used in ceremonies song “Naa Chan Kan”, written in a spiral and repeated 4 times as songs are performed during a ceremony.
Hooops Garden of Fantastic Plants is a library and artistic research group on the topic of plant magic, poison and remedy.
An abstract calligraphy mural project across Mexico City
Calligraphy in the public space, combining German, Hebrew and Arabic typography core rhythm and shape.
Limited edition of 16 copies, ink on paper and a disposable camera, scanned and reprinted, 21x15 cm | 2016
Group exhibition, Jaffa Port Gallery, Jaffa | 2016
Group exhibition, Baalei Hamelacha Gallery, Tel Aviv, curator: Tamar Moshkovitz | 2016
This work is describing a single journey to a forest, that ended up as an identity definition quest through graphic representation of hybrid language.
Vinyl cover art | 2017
The Berlin based music label Malka Tuti and I have collaborated to create the art that decorates this full 2xLP: EROPA by TAPAN, designed by Morey Talmor and featuring my illustration and calligraphy silkscreen on the dark side of the vinyl.
The map illustrates one of the most well-trodden paths on the refugee journey to Europe: The Balkan Route.
“EROPA is dedicated to and inspired by events in 2015 & 2016, which saw the spectre of global crisis come knocking at Europe’s doorstep. During this time, more than a million migrants and refugees fled their homes in the Middle East, Northern Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and other conflict ravaged areas in search of a better life. For many, hopes of a future for themselves and their families lay in continental Europe. One of the most well-trodden paths on this journey was the Balkan Route, a trail leading through Turkey, Greece, and the former Yugoslavia. This route was not without its dangers, and the dreams of many were dashed by impassible security fences and discordant EU politics, as one by one they were turned away at borders, or worse, forcibly returned to their countries of origin.”
A mural in the showroom of The BU
The iconic building in Herzogstraße 15, Düsseldorf underwent renovation, and was showcased with a modular space idea that boasts exceptional design and eco-friendly materials, under the supervision of interior designer Milica Mesterovic.
ORDER - Solo Exhibition
Hybrid Identity Through Language and Calligraphy
المخزن / אלמסן /Almacén Gallery
Tel Aviv Jaffa
ORDER is a series of ink on paper, hand cut and woven objects.
The objects are the outcome of a life in a state of roaming. They were created through various stages of my continuous transition from Tel Aviv to Berlin.
I was born in Moscow, immigrated to Israel in 1991 (as part of a massive immigration wave from former Soviet Union to Israel), grew up in Jerusalem and moved to Berlin in 2016. As far as I know, none of my ancestors lived for more than a generation in one place. My family history is full of constant movement. In these conditions the task of self-definition, both as an individual and as a community, becomes complexed. ORDER reflects this complexity and undermines the demand for cultural uniformity.
The exhibition explorers and re-defines identity, my own as well as others. Human nature requires cultural uniformity, stiffness and unequivocal. However, a unified identity is rare; it is fluid, flexible and multifaceted.
Language and typography are defining elements of a culture. By using strict set of rules, they indicate the undisputed nature of it, both by content and visual form. ORDER is a contradiction to this concept. It is using diverse typography styles in different languages to create a hybrid outcome: the co-existence of multiple identities in a unified object.
Poetry in urban space
2016
Trilingual ink on paper works.
Hebrew calligraphy and Arabic calligraphy woven into each other, on pages out of a found German Gothic style book, printed in 1941.
Part of "Klingspor Museum Fine Bookart and Lettering Collection", Klingspor Museum, Offenbach am Main, Germany.
Maktub
Traditional and Contemporary Calligraphy between East and West
Curator: Sharon Laor-Sirak
The exhibition showcases traditional works of art alongside contemporary ones, most of them making use of calligraphy on paper. The traditional works present various uses of paper in Islamic lands, and reflect the importance of calligraphy in Islamic culture. These include calligraphic pages and calligrapher’s tools, Qurans, amulets, illustrated books, album pages as well as early printed materials, such as a Quran from the seventeenth century printed in Europe. The contemporary works on display offer new interpretations of traditional and stylized writing, and were created by the artists: Farid Abu-Shakra, Kutluǧ Ataman, Liron Lavi Turkenich, Kazuo Ishii, Shirin Neshat and Ella Ponizovsky Bergelson.
I am Who I am (2016)
Ink on woven cellulose paper, 100x1000 cm
Center installation
The bilingual (Hebrew, Arabic) object is created to reflect on the relationship between the two sister languages. It is lying on the gap between interference and harmony; the readability is almost disabled due to the weaving technique and yet the result is visually homogenic. The creation process was an examination of the meditative state of repetitive writing by using an ancient writing technique.
Calligraphy in public space
Hybrid Calligraphy Murals in Tel Aviv Jaffa
The Hybrid Calligraphy murals in Tel Aviv are located mostly on the border of the ancient Arabic city Jaffa and the new Israeli cultural capital Tel aviv. The murals are abstract combining Hebrew and Arabic typography core rhythm and shape.
New York | 2005
Grid deconstruction and reconstruction of daily newspapers in different languages.
Handmade Calligraphy on Clothes
Binded collection of sketches.
