Space for Community Art: Shahar Sivan and Roee Cohen; Tamar Nissim

The works presented in these two exhibitions are the result of activities carried out over the past year by three artists of the "Space for Community Art." This program at the Haifa Museums encourages artistic practice that is attentive to the place and the local community, initiating processes in the city's neighborhoods, which reinforce art's social power and increase the public need for art. As part of this program, artists based in the greater Haifa area, selected by a professional committee, receive close curatorial support as well as conceptual and practical training for artistic action in the community. Community members participating in the project play a substantial part in the artistic process.

The works are distinguished by a perception of interpersonal dialogue as an artistic quality. Domestic kitchens, public institutions, the threshold to the street - all of these function as scenes of action and studio spaces where the works are created. Presence is the main creative material and the foremost value in this artistic genre, which pushes aside art that aims for visibility in favor of art that seeks to be experienced while taking shape.

The Space for Community Art was supported by the Israel Lottery Council for Culture and Arts