In 1998, I was approached by curators Yael Katz Ben Shalom and Eyal Ben Dov, who asked whether I was interested in participating in an exhibition that would comprise secular, religiously observant, and ultra-orthodox artists. The name of the exhibition invited the artists to relate to the different sectors of society and the manner in which they interact. It was clear to me that I wanted to touch on the stereotypes and stigmas that surround each sector in the eyes of the other.
As I thought about how I would approach the exhibition, I became acquainted with one of the other artists involved – Mota Brim. I was especially intrigued by Mota. He appeared to be more or less the same age as I was, but had been born and raised in an old Hassidic family. He was a very open person who was easy to converse with. On the one hand, he taught at a cheder – a school for children where Hebrew and religious studies are taught – but he was also a still life painter and a figurative painter, which was a far cry from what I had expected. When I asked if he would be willing to swap clothes with a secular person as part of the work I was planning to produce, he agreed without hesitation. Incidentally, Mota is still an active painter who exhibits on the Israeli art scene.
The greatest obstacle was finding a young “national-religious” girl who was willing to swap clothes with a secular girl for my photoshoot. Numerous such young girls feared the possible reactions from their schools and the societies in which they lived. Even when their parents granted them permission, the girls’ fear overcame their curiosity. Bat-El Chacham proved to be a pleasant young girl who was both curious and brave.
This work seemed to slide from the art world to the spheres of culture and current events. The Israeli television personality Freddie Gruber produced an item about Mota for the Channel 1 show Friday Night News, in which he came to my studio and documented the process of my photography. Over the years, this work has been reviewed and presented many times in the media, at exhibitions, and at other venues.
