>[!NOTE]+ Comment in light of 7 October 2023 The experience of working with MUZA helps me appreciate the anguish felt by many Israelis about not just the violence of 7 October but also the invasion of Gaza that followed. I appreciate the complexity of history in this region, but I feel the tolerance by the government of settler violence in the West Bank is reprehensible. Our contribution to this biennale sought to emphasise the story of origins as a shared story carried out in the cultural arena. While such symbolic values may seem ephemeral compared to the fight for land, it does offer a space for dialogue. "Make stories not war" will continue to be the mantra. The Tel Aviv Biennale of Crafts & Design began in 2020 with a large scale exhibition throughout the museum exhibition galleries, permanent collections and outdoor sites featuring Israeli craft and design. It was a particularly rich and thoughtful collection of contemporary works, divided into several themes: First Person / Second Nature, Back to the Future, Heaven (and) Earth, Must / Need and You are Here. As well as exhibition works, there were site-specific projects in various locales/sites such as a reconstructed [Olive Oil plant,](https://www.eretzmuseum.org.il/e/424/) the water-power mill and the Craft Arcade that responded to the museum’s historical site. You can learn more through this [video](https://vimeo.com/641505584) and [catalogue](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1X3na0FD-hq7WP5qOjGq_XW4nSqHtIpKO/view?usp=sharing) (to be read backwards). The Biennale is at MUZA - [Eretz Israel Museum](https://www.eretzmuseum.org.il/) , a municipal museum supported by the city of Tel Aviv that focuses on local material culture, past and present. The museum’s collections span more than 3,000 years, from the Biblical period to today. These feature many of the crafts that made life possible over the millennia. For the second biennale in 2023, this event is extended to include 19 international artists whose work responds to ancient cultures and traditions. This reflects the “craft renaissance” occurring across the wider world, as individuals seek to revive artefacts so that they can be re-activated as powerful cultural objects that are relevant to today's world. This involves a diversity of interests, recovery of craft skills and cultural regeneration as well as political, social, ecological and other issues and concerns. It features "new traditions" that sustain old stories through translation into current forms and materials. The Biennale opened on 30 March 2023 and will close on 11 November 2023. MUZA is committed to displaying “the cultural heritage of all the people of this country, past and present”. In the museum's permanent collections and temporary exhibitions are represented Jews and Arabs, local and international artists. For instance, in the recent major exhibition titled [PHOTOmenta,](https://www.eretzmuseum.org.il/e/433/) photography from the Mediterranean countries features artists from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Palestinian Authority, side by side with works by Israeli artists. In the first Biennale among the participating artists were prominent Palestinian artists. MUZA identifies itself as a partner in the struggle for peace and equal rights. The international component of the biennale is curated by Kevin Murray and reflects the spirit of revival found in the stories of [Garland magazine.](https://garlandmag.com) As such, it is based on mutual respect drawn from a realisation that no culture is complete to itself, and that intercultural encounters are necessary to help us learn of important perspectives beyond our own. #### Artists - Andile Dyalvane (Xhosa, South Africa) - Bic Tieu (Vietnam, Australia) - Bubu Ogisi (Itsekeri, Nigeria) - Constanza Urrutia (Chile) - Francisca Gili (Chile) - Gunybi Ganambarr (Yolŋu, Australia) - Hlengiwe Dube (Zulu, South Africa) - Ishan Khosla (India) - Jenni Kemarre Martiniello (Australia) - Katarina Spik Skum (Sami, Sweden) - Maria Fernanda Paes de Barros (Brazil) - Mehrnoosh Ganji (Iran, Australia) - Rita Soto (Chile) - Rudee Tancharoen (Thailand, Australia) - Seonjoo Lee (South Korea) - Taller Jacobo y María Angeles (Zapotec, Mexico) - Vipoo Srivilasa (Thailand) - Wanda Gillespie (New Zealand) - Yao Huifen (China) #### Related articles in Garland - Andile Dyalvane (South Africa) - [UYalezo - New Traditions | Garland Magazine](https://garlandmag.com/loop/uyalezo-new-traditions/) - Bic Tieu (Vietnam, Australia) - [The box: A magic object of objects | Garland Magazine](https://garlandmag.com/article/the-box-a-magic-object-of-objects/) - Bubu Ogisi (Nigeria) - [Bubu Ogisi ✿ Masks that reveal hidden spirits | Garland Magazine](https://garlandmag.com/loop/bubu-ogisi/) - Constanza Urrutia (Chile) - [Proyecto "Las Fábricas" - Last words and weaves in Santiago | Garland Magazine](https://garlandmag.com/article/proyecto-las-fabricas-last-words-and-weaves-in-santiago/) - [Charazani Project: Inca weaving revived | Garland Magazine](https://garlandmag.com/article/charazani/) - Francisca Gili (Chile) - [Cantarino: Reanimating the whistling bottles of the Andes | Garland Magazine](https://garlandmag.com/article/cantarino-whistling-bottles-andes/) - Gunybi Ganambarr (Australia) - [Garrapara: Deep waters and the cycle of life and death  | Garland Magazine](https://garlandmag.com/article/garrapara/) - Hlengiwe Dube (South Africa) - [Iziqhaza: Designs that open your ears | Garland Magazine](https://garlandmag.com/article/iziqhaza/) - Ishan Khosla (India) - [The kaavad: from devotion to decoration | Garland Magazine](http://garlandmag.com/article/the-kaavad-from-devotion-to-decoration/) - [Exile from the Forest: Craft collaboration in the time of COVID | Garland Magazine](https://garlandmag.com/article/craft-collaboration-in-the-time-of-covid/) - Jenni Kemarre Martiniello (Australia) - [Jenni Kemarre Martiniello’s Freshwater Saltwater Weave | Garland Magazine](https://garlandmag.com/article/jenni-kemarre-martiniellos-freshwater-saltwater-weave/) - [The eel as a totem and symbol of resilience | Garland Magazine](https://garlandmag.com/article/burra/) - Katarina Spik Skum (Sweden) - [Goahten: At home with Sámi | Garland Magazine](https://garlandmag.com/article/goahten-sami-hut/) - Maria Fernanda Paes de Barros (Brazil) - [Moitará: An exchange between São Paulo and the village of Kaupüna | Garland Magazine](https://garlandmag.com/article/moitara/) - Mehrnoosh Ganji (Iran, Australia) - [A pomegranate’s secret: The jewels of Mehrnoosh Ganji | Garland Magazine](http://garlandmag.com/article/a-pomegranates-secret-the-jewels-of-mehrnoosh-ganji/,) - [Mehrnoosh Ganji ✿ Soul Star Pendant 📽️ | Garland Magazine](https://garlandmag.com/loop/mehrnoosh-ganji-%e2%9c%bf-soul-star-pendant/) - Rita Soto (Chile) - [New Kashpij: Sailing spirits in deep time from the end of the world | Garland Magazine](https://garlandmag.com/article/kashpij/) - Rudee Tancharoen (Thailand) - [Quest for the lost bronze casters: A journey to Ban Pa Ao | Garland Magazine](http://garlandmag.com/article/quest-for-the-lost-bronze-casters-a-journey-to-ban-pa-ao/), - [Kan Doenthang: Lost wax to recover a disappearing world | Garland Magazine](https://garlandmag.com/loop/kan-doenthang-lost-wax-to-recover-a-disappearing-world/) - Seonjoo Lee (South Korea) - https://youtu.be/q96qOOsYetM - Taller Jacobo y María Angeles (Mexico) - [What we can learn from Zapotec culture | Garland Magazine](https://garlandmag.com/loop/zapotechnology/) - Vipoo Srivilasa (Thailand) - [To catch a flower: Love triumphs in the marriage of Sang Thong | Garland Magazine](https://garlandmag.com/article/sang-thong/) - Wanda Gillespie (New Zealand) - [Wanda Gillespie ✿ Abacus | Garland Magazine](https://garlandmag.com/loop/wanda-gillespie/) - Yao Huifen (China) - [Can Suzhou Embroidery be contemporary art? | Garland Magazine](https://garlandmag.com/article/suzhou-embroidery/) - [The robot embroiderer | Garland Magazine](https://garlandmag.com/article/the-robot-embroiderer/) Catalogue essay: [(PDF) Ancient Now: A craft renaissance in the wider world](https://www.academia.edu/99150522/Ancient_Now_A_craft_renaissance_in_the_wider_world) Related: [Israeli Social Justice Organisations](https://www.craft.do/s/5dPMAhA0CeqC4b) After the opening, the international curator and two visiting international artists travelled through the West Bank to make many valuable connections. It was important to ensure there was cultural dialogue with both Israel and Palestine. ### Statement from the curator at the press conference We live in an era of tribal nationalism, where many countries seek to recover a lost glory. The idea is that the tribe was once living in splendour but had declined in strength. The usual explanation for this is that another tribe stole their glory. All was well, until the other tribe came along and infiltrated one's own tribe, causing it to lose its way. We see this nationalism in a number of ways, such as Make America Great Again, Brexit, Indian populism, Chinese ambitions and the Ukraine war. In the past, this mentality has been expressed through anti-Semitism, notably in the Nazi response to perceived German decline. There is a kernel of truth to this mentality. It is a common cultural yearning to seek reconnection with one's past origins. At a time of change, it is useful to return to one's cultural "mission statement" and recover one's future direction. The challenge is to see this as a common human story, rather than the exclusive identity of one's own tribe. The curiosity in one's cultural origins is as common as our individual yearning for home. The journey forth and return home is the narrative framework by which humans navigate the world. The museum plays a critical role as a space for celebrating the richness of this human story. The foreign works in the Biennale are produced by individuals who are drawing on their culture's ancient past in order to find a path forward. This role is never more important as today, when the struggle of world powers to regain lost glory threatens global destruction. Make stories, not war. --- ### Publicity These articles are from the Israeli press and have been auto-translated ##### [Extra Large Size: Treat yourself to a visit to the Biennale. Maybe you will come out uplifted](https://timeout.co.il/%D7%91%D7%99%D7%90%D7%A0%D7%9C%D7%94-%D7%9E%D7%95%D7%96%D7%90/) Come to dive, to delve, to surrender, to think. There is a reasonable chance that if you do all of the above, you will enjoy it, even a lot. You might even feel some elation. ##### [The second art and design biennale](https://www.calcalist.co.il/style/article/hje00w1oz2) In local terms, this is really a mega-exhibition, which covers most of the museum's pavilions and the areas between them, and to fully experience it requires time and legwork, but the experience is complete and satisfying. The exhibition includes 260 works in every imaginable technique, by 300 creators from Israel. In addition, for the first time, 19 artists from abroad were also invited to exhibit there, curated by Dr. Kevin Murray from Australia. Spectacular and truly poignant are the works of the Australian-Aboriginal artist Gunybi Ganambarr, who peels intricate Aboriginal patterns from aluminum-coated sponge boards. The works are related to the difficult experiences of the aborigines as aluminum miners in Australia. The invested biennale joins a series of exhibitions and is part of the attempt of the archaeological museum, sleepy in the past, to position itself as one of the leaders in the country. But beyond the comprehensive and spectacular snapshot of the fields of design and art offered by the Biennale, the works, alongside the latest technological uses, also show larger intentions, to offer healing, recognition of suffering, and a renewed adaptation of progress to human dimensions. ##### [Tel Aviv Art and Design Biennale 2023 - About 250 Works by Israeli Artists and Works by Artists and Designers From Abroad](https://pnns.co.il/%D7%94%D7%91%D7%99%D7%90%D7%A0%D7%9C%D7%94-%D7%9C%D7%90%D7%95%D7%9E%D7%A0%D7%95%D7%99%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%A2%D7%99%D7%A6%D7%95%D7%91-%D7%AA%D7%9C%D6%BE%D7%90%D7%91%D7%99%D7%91-2023-%D7%9B-2/) This year, for the first time in the spirit of the Biennale's worldwide theme, along with the works of about 250 top-class Israeli artists and artists, art and design works by international artists whose works respond to ancient cultures and traditions are displayed. "The heart and essence of the biennale is craft and design the contemporary in Israel," says Dr. Debbie Hershman, director of the biennial and one of its founders: "However, in a globalized world, Israeli creators maintain a dialogue with the world, are influenced by it, and influence it. Likewise, the Moza Biennale aims to recognize and create a dialogue with the international community of creators , with an emphasis on artists who create like us inspired by an ancient cultural tradition in an innovative and changing world." The works of the artists from abroad correspond with the contemporary works and with the exhibits of the museum: Dyalvane's impressive work, UYalezo - New Traditions is a tribute to the spiritual tradition and its roots in the Xhosa ethnic group in South Africa; the Australian Jenny Kemarre Martinelli creates and restores a vessel in the indigenous tradition, which she designs In glass; Bik Tieu, incorporates motifs of Chinese heritage in her works: elements such as tea leaves and peony petals are carefully assembled, giving form and substance to life in exile. The series of metal objects reflects the experience of migration from East to West. #### [Arts and Design Biennale, Tel Aviv 2023](https://debbyluzia.com/he/the-tel-aviv-biennale-of-crafts-and-design-2023/#.ZEn_WXZBxhE) Author: Debbie Luzia As Henrietta Eliezer Brunner says : "In an age where advanced technologies are reshaping our world and where our physical presence is losing its grip , it seems that the preoccupation with material and real craft reflects the desire to affirm our existence ." Dr. Kevin Murray contributes a fascinating outside view of the international trend of going back to the sources and the works he chose demonstrate the dialogue of indigenous artists , with ancient cultural artifacts from their cultures .