Who by Fire: On Israel

The exhibition “Who by Fire: On Israel” at the Berliner Haus on Lützowplatz features a collection of contemporary artworks by Israeli artists of Jewish and Arabic-Palestinian background. The pieces will be supplemented with works by the Jewish East Berlin artist Leon Kahane. The exhibition concept focuses on the post-colonial and identity-political discourse which is currently the subject of heated debate in the German art world. The project aims to address Israel’s history as well as the reality of everyday life there from a (self-)critical point of view. The works themselves will artistically explore the diversity, complexity and occasionally contradictory nature of the country which is so often characterised by fractures and threats. The participating artists shed light on the current state of their country and ask questions about Israeli identity, especially from the perspective of non-Jewish Israelis. They also address the issue of settlements with their borders and walls, as well as the prospect of overcoming them. They discuss the presence of the military and the perpetual conflict which has accompanied daily life in Israel since its founding in 1948. In presenting these potentially controversial perspectives of Israeli artists, the exhibition also touches on the relationship they have to Germany and its history.

The project is organised in cooperation with the “Amadeu Antonio Stiftung” and the Forum for Democratic Culture and Contemporary Art (Leon Kahane and Fabian Bechtle), with which it is planning a central event on “anti-Semitism as a cultural technique”. Another partner is the Salon Avitall – Jewish Center for Arts and Culture in Berlin-Moabit, which will host a presentation of Liav Mizrahi’s works and part of the accompanying discussion programme.

Artistic director: Liav Mizrahi
Artists: Durar Bacri, Michael Halak, Leon Kahane, Ariane Littman, Ella Littwitz, Avner Pinchover, Shlomo Pozner, Ariel Reichman, Fatma Shanan, Dina Shenhav and others

Exhibition: Haus am Lützowplatz, Berlin: 9 Jun. – 27 Aug. 2023