Dana Arieli Captures Haunted Landscapes In A New Virtual Exhibition

The Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University in Waltham, MA will present its first-ever online exhibition, "The Zionist Phantom" by Dana Arieli, now live and viewable at https://www.brandeis.edu/israel-center/zionist-phantom. The public is invited, free of charge, to two public programs:

1. Exhibition Launch and Artist Talk with Prof. Dana Arieli and Dr. Rotem Rozental, the curator, on Monday, April 26, 2021 from 11:30 AM-12:30 PM ET via Zoom. The talk is cosponsored by the Consul General of Israel to New England. Registration required.

2. Artist Workshop with Prof. Dana Arieli on Tuesday, April 27, 2021 from 12:00 PM-2:00 PM ET via Zoom. Registration required.

These events are being offered in conjunction with Brandeis University's Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts, April 25-May 1, 2021.

In "The Zionist Phantom," Prof. Dana Arieli shapes a panoramic view of a landscape defined by the uneasy presence of its missing limbs. With dozens of photographs captured across Israel between the1980s to the present, the exhibition presents abandoned and active spaces, unfinished buildings, military presence in civilian areas, sites of collective remembrance and personal loss, exhuming the past lives of the sites, of what will never return.

Each category in this growing archive reflects the artist's own journeys, as she returns again and again to various sites: Bedouin estates in Rahat, sites in the Old City, Hebron and more, are seen here at various moments throughout the last four decades. The Zionist Phantom thus offers an unparalleled view of Israel that is rarely seen beyond its borders. Historical sites, battlefields, schools, monuments-all become elements in a landscape haunted by ghosts.

This is Prof. Arieli's first exhibition in the US, following decades of creating groundbreaking exhibitions in Israel and Europe and mentoring generations of students. "Dana's work as an artist, curator, organizer and educator had a profound impact on the shaping of memory culture in Israel," says curator Dr. Rotem Rozental, "She was able to bring into the gallery space and full media view issues not previously discussed-from the impact of Yitzhak Rabin's assassination on Israeli visual culture to the impact of past dictatorships on contemporary civil life."

The Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University, founded in 2007, is dedicated to advancing knowledge and understanding of Israeli history, politics, culture and society. It is committed to creating and disseminating knowledge about the modern State of Israel, not just at Brandeis, but to a global audience. Find recordings of past events on the Center's YouTube channel.