Artists in residence

Artport in Jaffa is celebrating the end of its first year with an exhibition of its Israeli residents

By ABRA COHEN
Works in progress521 (photo credit: ABRA COHEN)
Works in progress521
(photo credit: ABRA COHEN)
Only a few kilometers from the trendy part of Jaffa, which is bustling with restaurants and artisan shops, is the industrial part of the city. Factories and large nondescript buildings amid the dusty streets make the area feel like the furthest thing from creative artistic expression.
But lodged in repurposed space in an industrial area in the middle of Jaffa is Artport, which is breathing new life into an otherwise colorless environment. Funded by the Arison Foundation, Artport is a welcome addition to the Israeli art world. With six year-long Israeli art residents, one curator and four short-term visiting art residents from abroad, the program is bringing emerging artists from different artistic genres together, while exposing the community to different types of art work.
Established in 2012, Artport is celebrating the end of its first year with an exhibition of its Israeli residents on July 18. With refreshments, live performance artists and works by each artist on display, the event will feature the various types of work each artist is engaged in and the long-term projects they are working on.
An initiative of the Arison Foundation, Artport is the first residency program on this scale in Israel. With a monthly living stipend, individual studio space and a shared gallery for exhibitions and openings, the artists can work on their pieces without having to worry too much about living expenses and other incidentals. In addition to the studio and gallery space, the Artport initiative offers a small apartment onsite for visiting artists and those who require a housing option.
“It’s one of the best residency experiences I’ve had,” says young Israeli artist Einat Amir. She says that many of the artists come from a wide range of art backgrounds. Specializing in various media, the artists are of different ages and have diverse artistic backgrounds.
Located in an industrial zone, the gallery is not the easiest place to find, but with a little navigation you soon come upon what some people refer to as a “compound.” What may look a bit out of place at first glance makes for a great studio space – quiet, tranquil and roomy.
The studio spaces at Artport sit parallel to the main gallery, with a pathway between the two, which makes for a great atmosphere, with hanging lights and music during gallery openings. The studio spaces, which are light and airy, have glass doors and feature the artists’ names in Hebrew, English and Arabic.
“I prefer to work during the late hours, when it’s quieter,” says Rafram Haddad, adding with a laugh, “That’s often the reason I’m late for the morning meeting.”
Haddad, who is originally from Jerusalem, will be displaying three projects in the exhibition. One is a rug that is made entirely of broken watches, which will be suspended from a bronze hand. Another is a project called Transparent Music, which depicts music from cars and balconies in the Bat Yam and Jaffa area in the 1970s.
With weekly meetings and other events that involve the Artport residents, no one day is exactly the same as another. Artists are able to set their schedules for the most part and often spend time consulting or getting feedback from other residents. Many of this year’s artists say that the chemistry among the group is exceptional, which is conducive to great working conditions and collaboration.
Aside from providing studio space and stipends, another cornerstone of the Artport project is exposing residents to various artists from around the world.
Offering workshops, classes and outings, this part of the residency program is an important element of the year.
One of the artists who came to visit this year was Rirkit Tiravahija, an Argentinean-born Thai conceptual artist who known for his work in which feeding people becomes art. For Artport, he came up with an event where, together with Haddad, he cooked lamb on Jewish Agency-issued beds and had an adjacent game of ping-pong, where visitors could ask him questions while volleying the ball across the table.
As many professional art projects take longer than nine months to complete, a good number of the projects displayed on July 18 will be “works in progress” but will be complete enough to give the viewers a good idea of the piece the artist is working on.
From historical photography projects to a robot named Frankie that interviews people about their emotions, the projects displayed at the Artport end of year exhibition are creative, interesting and fun. As with many of the gallery openings, this event is open to the public.
For more information, visit Artport at www.artportlv.org