Three Recommendations for Diverse Art
# Erel Peli
In recent years, we have been experiencing the revival of art and music that present an alternative to mainstream culture, while raising questions on identity and belonging. Here are a few brief recommendations:
Rafram Hadad – An Israeli social sculptor and writer of Tunisian descent. On Hadad's personal website you can see some of his interesting pieces, which he showed at the Venice Biennale. His work reflects the complex relationship of Israel and Libya, through his own personal story. In March 2010, Hadad travelled to Libya for the Or Shalom Center for the Heritage of Libyan Jews, on a mission to photograph Jewish cemeteries and synagogues. After ten days, he was arrested by the Libyan secret service, and was released only following an intricate international deal.
Another band is Mashrou' Leila from Lebanon, that sings of controversial topics in the ethnically torn country. Mashrou' Leila is known for attempts to break social conventions, such as the discrimination against gays and lesbians: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HqHdBlQEe8
Dr. Dor Guez- head of the Photography Department at the Betzalel Academy and a researcher of photography and archives at Tel Aviv University. Founder of the Christian Palestinian Archive (CPA). Guez deals with questions of the identity of the viewer, partly because of his own identity as the son of a Jewish father and a Palestinian Christian mother. See his works here: http://dorguez.com/.