NewDaica: ‘Smahot Ktanot’

An artistic exhibition of an intensely personal nature resonates with gallery visitors.

By SHTERNY ISSEROFF
Art by Doron Ze’evi (photo credit: Courtesy)
Art by Doron Ze’evi
(photo credit: Courtesy)
In “Smahot Ktanot,” textile and fashion designer Doron Ze’evi and curator Ilana Carmeli-Lanner explore the world of grief, history and renewal.
Triggered by the death of his father, Ze’evi’s complexly designed pieces play with the dichotomies of holy and unholy, as well past and present.
Ze’evi uses various textiles and trinkets of his father to present an intricately woven narrative of his life, utilizing elements from his father’s belongings to take you on a journey of one man’s attempt to respect the past physically, religiously and sentimentally.
Ze’evi had already begun exploring the idea of renewal while working on his undergraduate degree at Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art, using materials left over from the production process of sacred articles such as tefillin, and using the design practices of felting and lettering to make the materials conceptually holy once more. This can be seen in his piece titled Hidden Lights, where he revives prayer shawls by printing on the fabric holy texts recited on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.
It is traditional to donate the belongings of a loved one to be repurposed and serve a holy space, such as a synagogue. In “Smahot Ktanot” this act is apparent through the designer’s seven-part series of Torah scroll covers, a tribute to the seven days of the week.
“All of these pieces were made out of materials from my father’s clothing and belongings,” Ze’evi says.
One piece displays screws of various sizes at the hem of the cover, reminiscent of his father’s lifelong profession as a maintenance worker.
Many of the pieces are adorned by various elements intended as sentences and footnotes in an elaborate story which is Ze’evi’s father’s life.
Each detail is deeply thought out in order to take the viewer on a voyage through history and time. Buttons, watch faces and hair clips – used in Modern Orthodox Jewish culture to hold the kippa in place on one’s head – embellish Torah scroll covers, ark curtains and kippot.
Sometimes Ze’evi chooses to focus on one specific theme of his father’s belongings, such as collars, tablecloths or sleeves – disassembling shirts, jackets and pants to re-imagine their use in a holy manner.
He uses safety pins – displayed in both silver and gold throughout his work – to express grief and sorrow. It is a custom in Jewish tradition for children who are grieving over the death of a parent to rip their clothing as a sign of mourning. Pins are often used to hold together the tears, while the mourners greet those who have stopped by to pay their respects. Used throughout his designs, these small safety pins – woven intricately into his pieces of renewal and purity – are utilized to represent the shiva mourning period.
In another piece, Ze’evi designed a cloth for the Torah to rest upon after being removed from the ark.
This magnificent piece sprawls across the width of a large round table in the center of the exhibit space, designed with embroidered pieces of his father’s kippot and held together with pins. Long golden strings playfully pour over the sides onto the floor, and the beauty and vibrancy of the piece contrasts with its sobering narrative.
In addition to being a textile and fashion designer, Ze’evi dabbles in the realm of industrial design.
His piece titled Rimonim L’Sefer Torah was made utilizing iron pipes and his father’s worn-out navy blue work shirt. Rimonim are small bells hung from a Torah scroll cover.
Ze’evi began working on “Smahot Ktanot” in 2012 and finished in 2015.
He says he gets his inspiration for each design from the materials themselves. “The shape and feeling of the material gives me, as a textile and fashion designer, the idea of how to use them. I also find creative inspiration from designers such as Viktor & Rolf,” he says. “Chanel and Dior as well – all their embroidery and handmade pieces, though I appreciate Viktor & Rolf most because of its unique thought process.”
Carmeli-Lanner and Ze’evi first met while both were working at the WIZO Haifa Academy of Design and Education. Since then, they have been working together for about 10 years.
Asked what had inspired the two to work together specifically on this project, Carmeli-Lanner explains: “When I saw Doron’s work and how everything was sitting in his boxes at home, I was shaking! As soon as he called me and said ‘Ilana, what do I do? I don’t know if I should display it,’ I said, ‘We’re doing it.’ So together, like weaving, we weaved together this exhibition.”
What is Ze’evi looking to do next? “For now, I rest. Just rest,” he says with a laugh, and then adds more seriously: “But I would really like to help other people tell their own family stories, too, through creating holy pieces to be preserved.”
The series is on display at 109 Yehoshua Hankin Street, Holon, until December 3, Sunday-Thursday 9 a.m. to noon and 4 to 7 p.m.; Friday 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Entrance is free.


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