Exhibitions

The selection presented in the exhibition, a generous gift from Ms. Lynn Schusterman to the Museum, spans mainly works from the first half of the 20th century, the formative period of Israeli art. This cluster adds a significant artistic and historical layer to the Museum's existing collection (on view in the nearby permanent exhibition), which focuses primarily on Israeli art from the 1950s onwards. It attests to the transformations that occurred in local art over the years, highlighting issues in Israeli culture that are still relevant decades later. Although they were created in different parts of the country, the scorching Israeli sun shines over all of the featured works.

Be it in Moscow, Berlin, Be'er Sheva, or Jaffa, Natalia Zourabova primarily paints the interior of her home. The gaze at the living environment is a means of adapting to it, and Zourabova discovers the place through painting; more accurately: by rendering the domestic interior, she discovers painting. Interior depictions tie the home to the studio, life to work. The painting is created in a familiar, loved place, but at the same time it pits the challenges of life against those of painting. Every moment spent at home is a time of studying the act of painting while mapping the space, perusing the shapes, colors, and textures that make up her habitat.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi was active in Rome in the mid-18th century, at a time when the city attracted intellectuals from all over Europe who gathered against the backdrop of its celebrated centuries-old buildings. In his time, Rome was one of the major centers of the Enlightenment: a mandatory destination on the Grand Tour undertaken by members of the aristocracy to explore the cultural capitals of Europe, and a focal point for the study of classical culture for artists and intellectuals. Piranesi created countless etchings in Rome featuring the city's sights, making a name for himself throughout Europe. The Haifa Museum of Art collection is blessed with a considerable selection of these etchings.

Our home, and the objects in it, tell stories: in the kitchen cupboard there is a partial set of dishes, some broke during a move; in the living room there is a worn sofa, which has taken the shape of the body due to overuse; on the wall behind it are pictures of smiling relatives, some still alive, others no longer. Our favorite people and things are usually found in our living environment, and a representation of the interior shows everything that we love and fear for.

My room is my best place. We decide what to hang on the walls in it, we keep the most important things in it, and we close ourselves in it when we want to be only with ourselves.
We invite you to show us what your room looks like, or the room of your dreams: draw the room on a postcard, and be sure to describe the objects and details that make it your special place, different from all other rooms.

Wadi - is a hydrologic geological formation, and a term in Arabic, Hebrew, and English describing different forms of seasonal flow, associated with areas with little precipitation.
In Haifa, however, a wadi is also a mental state; the city's wadis are used for momentary respites from the routine, for various games, and for alternative community gatherings. At the same time, they also embed darkness, all sorts of waste, and complex ecosystems of flora and fauna, which exist in a world parallel to everyday life.
The exhibition addresses different manifestations of this alternate universe.

The exhibition juxtaposes three works by international artists delving into the universal characteristics of the gestures of the protesting body, with four series of photographs from four significant protests in local history.

Artist Jaro Varga came from Prague to Haifa three times during the last year, visits which he spent tracing the footsteps of famous Germans and German culture in the city. A past visitor who attracted him in particular was author Karl May, who came to Haifa in 1899.

Imagine a train ride across a pristine landscape. There is no building, no factory, not even a road in sight. Nothing. Just hills and sand. Through the train window it seems like a place untouched by human hands, but this is obviously an illusion. If we were to stand in the landscape and look towards the train, we would see that the landscape is scarred with iron tracks. Our environment is nearly always shaped by people, who add their own touch to nature, and there is almost no place that is truly natural. But what if humans and nature could live together in better harmony?
You are welcome to design the mountain yourself: plant trees on its slopes and peek into the secrets it reveals through the windows hanging above. Join the ride through the designed landscape to observe it from the inside out and from the outside in.

Oded Hirsch's works are based on detailed scripts for absurd situations. He invents challenges and problems that need to be solved, providing a complete scenario for their solution. The solution is usually just as far-fetched as the challenge, and the works leave the viewer wondering about the very necessity of these actions: Why is it necessary to pull out a tractor buried in the ground, lift it upwards, and introduce it into the museum?
The pulse and breathing rates are among the vital signs by which physicians determine whether a person is healthy, sick, or dead. The vital signs are directly affected by one's emotional state: they change in moments of calm or excitement, fear or infatuation. The exhibition features some of the real products of these vital signs in works of art from the past twenty years. Lines, lights, and sounds are generated as the work of art is adapted to the heartbeats and the cycle of inhalation-exhalation, which determine the structure of the work. This rhythm—whether calm and regular, fast and fidgety, or completely still—may guide one into the depths of consciousness. Alternatively, it can make us conscious of those who are bleeding or those who have been deprived of air to breathe.