In 2003, I approached the president of the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design with a proposal to establish a unit for special projects which would raise awareness among students and the general public about social, community, media and cultural issues. The aim of the unit would be to develop ideas which would integrate the students' studies in the various departments with the creation of social projects. The Bezalel administration agreed to encourage inter-departmental courses, and I suggested the creation of the course “Art and Activism in the Public Space.” Eldad Cidor joined me as a lecturer and in 2004 we opened the first course. We proposed a year-long course, with a spring and a summer semester. During the first semester we clarified concepts such as community, art in the public space, and activism. By means of personal or group exercises the students created interventions in the public space. For the first two years we collaborated with the Sderot Conference for Society, and during the summer semester we put the theory into practice in the city of Sderot which was targeted by rockets, mortars and missiles from the Gaza Strip during the Disengagement from Gaza. During those summers the students created about ten projects, several of which are still in existence.
A new world opened up for the students and for us, and various collaborations sprang up quickly between the students from various faculties and different communities in the city. The students were exposed to subjects they had been unaware of and the familiar means of expression in the worlds of art and design were now combined with the issues faced by a community in crisis. Long-term connections were forged with communities and institutions contending with ethical matters. The process of turning the project over fully to the community was a gradual one, so as not to disrupt or adversely affect the project that was created. This took place along with financial planning, and the organization of sponsorships and media exposure.
Two years later, two lecturers from the Sala-Manca group – Lea Mauas and Diego Rotman – joined the course. Diego and I taught the course for its final six years. From the third year that the course was offered, we decided to work with the students only in Jerusalem (both the west and east parts of the city), based on the understanding that the students should learn, conduct research, respond to and create in the urban space where Bezalel is located and where they were living. We also hoped that this approach would foster a continuing dialogue with the communities we were working with throughout the year. Over the years, more than 40 projects were created in the public space, in collaboration with a diverse range of communities.
The course and the encounters with the other lecturers, the students and the members of the various communities opened new vistas to me and sharpened my perspective regarding my role as an artist. Over the years I was a member of research groups, helped to write articles and plan conferences, and participated in discussions and meetings with dozens of experts, who developed expertise in activities based on art and creativity with communities. The exchange of knowledge and collaboration with experts and lecturers from the fields of social work, anthropology and sociology, alongside fascinating meetings with residents and social activists allowed me to share the information with others and to develop personally.
The course was made possible with the support of, and collaboration with, the Campus-Community Partnership at Hebrew University, the support of, and collaboration with, the Dean of Students at Bezalel, the PERACH mentoring project, and many other organizations.
