Conversation

Presented in conjunction with an exhibition of recent video art from the Middle East on view at the Art in General gallery, this discussion considers the contributions of video art to political developments in the region. Speakers include Galit Eilat, writer, curator and founding director of the Israeli Center for Digital Art, Holon and Reem Fadda, a Ramallah-based curator, art historian and former director of the Palestinian Association for Contemporary Art (PACA).

Eilat and Fadda consider the role of art as a tool for civil disobedience and passive resistance that affects its surroundings, wielded by individuals during times of social or political distress. Within this context they discuss “Liminal Spaces,” a long-term project examining the possibility of joint action in light of the ever-growing existential hardship of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. Video works that were produced during this project will be on view at Art in General as part of the Mobile Archive, a cross-national library of video art.

The Israeli Center for Digital Art was founded to promote, distribute, and exhibit video, media, and Internet-based art in Israel. An exhibition space with a library open to the public, the video archive contains hundreds of works, including pieces by Israeli artists who have exhibited at the center and others who have contributed to the archive over time. For the last two years, the Mobile Archive has traveled to art institutions in Europe and the Middle East, acquiring new works in each location. The exhibition at Art in General will be the Mobile Archives first stop in the United States.

Participants
Galit Eilat, writer, curator and founding director, the Israeli Center for Digital Art, Holon
Reem Fadda, curator, art historian and former director of the Palestinian Association for Contemporary Art
(PACA)

Presented in collaboration with Art in General and the Israeli Center for Digital Art, Holon.