​I'd Like to Be a Home (2025)

Studio Alkarma is a new collaborative creative space at Beit HaGefen, designed for all Haifa residents – artists and amateurs, young and old – for creation, dialogue, and encounters with each other and with local artists. The program aims to foster direct engagement and conversation through art, emphasizing the diversity of stories within Israeli society and the right of these stories to coexist respectfully.
The "I'd Like to Be a Home" exhibition is the culminating show for the program's first cycle. It features works by the "Encounters in Color" group, guided by Talia Ben Abu; photographs and video art by the "Talking Photography" group, guided by photographer Ronen Zien; sculptures and video art by the "Connected" women's circle, guided by Amira Abu Atta; a performance by the DANCING THE POLITICAL movement lab, guided by dancer and choreographer Saed Mansour; and a musical performance with audience participation by the "Free Music" group, guided by musician Eli Maman. Additionally, the exhibition includes a series of photographs by Ronen Zien, documenting the social and human process that unfolded within the groups and the studio.
After six months of meetings and creative work, the image of "home" repeatedly emerged in the groups, conversations, and encounters: as a real and imagined place, a physical and emotional space, a memory, and an aspiration. The participants asked themselves deep questions about Haifa and Beit HaGefen, about family roots and a shared future, about the land we live on, about where they come from – and about their desire to create together. "I'd Like to Be a Home" invites the public to delve into the artworks, processes, hopes, and dreams – and to ask: What does "home" mean in a complex reality like ours? And how can we build a shared home for ourselves?