In the 1960s, the slogan “Make love, not war” was coined and spread
widely as a response to the Vietnam War. Hippies, concerned individuals
and pacifists around the world adopted it, making the short quote a
trademark of the zeitgeist.
Some years later, as one of the many evolutions of this phrase, “Make art, not war” became a popular slogan.
Next
week in Tel Aviv, the child of these two slogans will take shape in the
form of a one-night event. Now celebrating more than 10 years of
activity, the Making Art, Loving Art festival will grace the streets of
Israel’s hippest city.
The event is an initiation of the Art
Department of the Tel Aviv Municipality and has, until this year, been
exclusive to visual artists. The happenings will be divided into two
programs: Loving Art, which will host artists in public spaces; and
Making Art, which invites the public into artists’ studio spaces.
This
year, falling in line with a global trend that has brought dance into
the museum halls alongside dozens of sculptors, painters and mixed media
creators, Loving Art will host a selection of local choreographers. All
the performances will take place outdoors, in various unusual locations
throughout the city. In addition, galleries will be open late, inviting
passers-by to take a gander.
Renana Raz’s YouMake, ReMake has
been in constant motion since its premiere two seasons ago. Raz’s
evening-length piece, which invites artists to respond to obscure videos
found on YouTube, is now being presented in its second edition. The
participants range from professional dancers to Raz’s
grandmother-in-law.
YouMake, ReMake will be performed at the Flour Station on Abulafia Street.
Nimrod
Freed’s Peep Dance will be positioned on Kalisher Street in south Tel
Aviv. The piece, which functions as a type of visual art installation,
brings out the voyeur in each spectator.
Inside a closed
structure, two dancers twist and turn, visible only through peepholes in
the fabric of the construct. Audience members may not have the easiest
time catching each movement, but the strain involved in taking in Peep
Dance is essentially the point of this clever work.
It seems fitting for Ronit Ziv’s With Subtitles to be performed outdoors.
The
piece, which premiered last year, presents a certain type of life on
the street. In this work, Ziv shows two very different women, separated
by a thin wall. On one side of the barrier, one woman makes a living as a
prostitute. On the other side, her lonely neighbor listens closely to
every sound, both intrigued and offended by the goings-on in her
building.
Anat Katz isn’t trying to dress up her reality for her
audience. In fact, her approach is quite the opposite. In Justkatzit,
Katz gives a detailed log of the dances she has made in the past several
years, including in-depth information about the budget she had to work
with in each process.
Though a certain degree of bitterness is
present in Katz’s retelling of her choreographic history, the piece
includes a good helping of joy as well.
Dancer Omer Uziel, whose
interactions with the audience should make for an interesting outdoor
viewer experience, joins Katz in this quirky performance.
Loving Art will take place on September 6 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.Making Art will run through the weekend in studio and gallery spaces in Tel Aviv. For more information, visit www.tel-aviv.gov.il.