Self-Collecting (2017)

 

14.12.2017 - 7.4.2018
 

The exhibition Self Collecting is a prologue to the permanent exhibition of Beit Ha'Gefen, being formed these days. Some of the works in the exhibition will be included in Beit Ha'Gefen’s collection, and their presentation at this time offers an opportunity to reflect on different aspects of the process of its construction. The point of departure for the exhibition is the assumption that a collection, any collection, is always the product of conscious and unconscious choices, within a specific political, social, and cultural context and certain material conditions. The collection is always shaped by negotiations between the personal and collective level, emotional and aesthetic choices that correspond, and at times clash with deep social processes. It follows that every process of collecting also entails acts of selection, inclusion, and exclusion. The collection, like the archive, is the outcome of certain power relations that determine who creates its underlying narrative, who makes the choices, and who are the viable candidates to be included in it.

The artists participating in the exhibition emphasize these aspects in the process of constructing a collection by employing various gathering, archiving, and storing practices as a means of positioning themselves within the local social and historical fabric. The non-traditional collection processes they present turn the spotlight on the mechanisms of a collection, both as a theoretical concept and as a physical space. They invite us to ask what decisions guide us when we build a collection and how these are influenced by and express the space in which it was created.

Self Collecting asks what are the questions that guide us through building a collection, what is their meaning when it is a new art collection, and how are these decisions impacted by and express the unique space in which it was created, a contemporary art gallery, an Arab-Jewish cultural center, and the city of Haifa.

Opening Hours of the Gallery in the time of the Holiday of Holidays Festival 2017 - 14.12 – 23.12
Thu 14.12 20:00 – Festive Opening
Sun, Mon, Tue 10:00 – 17:00
Wed, Thu 10:00 – 19:00
Fri 10:00 – 16:00
Sat 10:00 – 17:00
 
Opening Hours Through the year: Sun – Thu: 10:00 – 15:00, Fri Sat: 10:00 – 14:00

Beit Hagefen Gallery, Hagefen 2, Haifa | 048142507
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