The Winners

The 2013 Ministry of Culture and Sport Awards for Arts and Design exhibition presents the works of the 39 artists, designers and curators who received awards in six categories: Lifetime Achievement Award, The Minister Award for Visual Art, Artistic Encouragement Award, Young Artist Award, Curator Award, and Design Award. These are given to encourage creative endeavors and acknowledge significant contributions to Israeli culture.

The exhibition presents side by side new, previously unseen artworks, and known artworks that became identified with their creators. The great diversity of works, assembled on the occasion of receiving the awards, demonstrates the reciprocal influences in themes, principles, and practices, among the artists active in the contemporary Israeli art field. The variety of works enables to draw connecting lines between the artworks. The theme of memory, for example, and its manifestations in the cultural domain, both universal and Israeli, has a prominent presence in the exhibition. A second axis links the works characterized by social practice. Another common inquiry is a formalistic investigation of the material's aggregation states and the relation they establish with the viewer. Some of the works touch on issues concerning the relation between figurative representation and abstraction, while addressing the traits of the medium that transmits the works. The exhibition highlights the affinity of art created in Israel to the time and place in which it is created and displayed.

The exhibition catalogue features an interview with the two winners of the curator award Tamar Manor-Friedman and Ester Muchawsky-Schnapper. The interview provides a glimpse into to their work and achievements, as well as to their curatorial philosophy. In addition, the catalogue presents excerpts from the foreword to Haviva Peled-Carmeli's book Silent Witnesses: Stories behind the Artifacts from the Yad Vashem Museum Collection (in Hebrew). The late Peled-Carmeli received an honorable mention for her curatorial work.

Lifetime Achievement Award: Avital Geva

Culture and Sport Minister Award for Visual Art: Avraham Eilat, Ruthi Helbitz Cohen, Erez Israeli, Uriel Miron, Adi Nes, Hanna Sahar, Belu-Simion Fainaru, Aharon Ozery, Osvaldo Romberg, Dina Shenhav

Artistic Encouragement Award: Eliahou Eric Bokobza, Dror Daum, Meir Tati, Amir Yatziv, Shay-Lee Uziel, Shahar Marcus, Ravit Mishli, Ron Amir, Ronit Porat, Hillel Roman

Young Artists Award: Yael Efrati, Nadav Bin-Nun, Oran Hoffmann, Matan Israeli, Liav Mizrahi, Merav Svirsky, Hadas Satt, Tomer Kep, Ariel Caine

Design Award: Varda Yatom, Kobi Levi, Gregory Larin, Tal Mor, Merav Salomon

Curator Award: Ester Muchawsky-Schnapper, Tami Manor-Friedman, and a special honorable mention to Haviva Peled-Carmeli