Milestone

Curatore: Smadar Schindler
Atelier Shemi, Kibbutz Cabri
21.05-28.08.2020

.

.

Maya Zehavi’s exhibition refers to a landscape that becomes a statue through photographs, taken in Ein-Harod and Beit HaArava – the Kibbutz Yechiel Shemi was one of its founders, and after its abandonment in 1948, its members, including Shemi, established Kibbutz Cabri. The stones that Maya Zehavi brought from the Arava became a series of photograms and give the exhibition its name.

The exhibition revolves around three main axes: the first – photographs of the landscape of Ein Harod; the second – photographs from the Arava , which actually reflect a journey in the opposite direction to the one undertaken by Yechiel Shemi; out of a desire to bring Beit-haArava to Kabri; the third – the view of Kabri from the windows leading to and from the exhibition space, which becomes a dynamic frame that is influenced and changes according to the time of day and weather conditions.
The exhibition also includes two works by Shemi – a landscape drawing in pencil from the Beit-haArava period and a model for a cave sculpture. In many ways, Shemi’s works are a kind of navel and reference point for the entire exhibition.

The exhibition explores the limits of the photographic medium by extending it into a physical, sculptural experience and exploring different ways of using the medium. The result is a double extension, both of the image and of the concept of time, pointing to the flexibility of the photographic material and the multiple ways in which dimensions, compositions and situations can be reconstructed or modified from reality.

Maya photographs with analogue cameras and the developing and printing processes are an essential part of her creative process. For example, the photo of the pier, which was intentionally printed on expired photographic paper to give the reality something mysterious and distancing. This paper lacks contrast – it has no white, only grey. The result is a photograph in a silvery hue. As such, it resonates with other worlds.