This October, make Jerusalem a world platform for Jewish Contemporary Art

This October, Jerusalem will once again join the ranks of major art centers such as New York, Berlin, Florence, London, Paris, and Venice, transforming into a vibrant, multi-dimensional celebration of contemporary art that evokes the unique, dynamic spirit of the diverse tapestry that is Jerusalem.

The Jerusalem Biennale for Contemporary Jewish Art is a stage for the creative artists from around the world, from secular to ultra-Orthodox, Jewish and non-Jewish, who are active in and relate to the Jewish world of content, provoking us to question our assumptions about what is contemporary Jewish art.

With your help we will make this Art accessible to as many people in Israel, as possible, regardless of their age, background, economic abilities and geographic location!

The 3rd Jerusalem Biennale for  Contemporary Jewish Art

October 1 through November 16, 2017

All eyes will be on this year’s Biennale as the platform for contemporary art that embodies and expresses Jewish thought, spirit, and history. Expected to draw close to a quarter of a million people, The Jerusalem Biennale will showcase the work of nearly 200 professional artists, Israeli and international, whose work will be represented in dozens of exhibitions and installations around the capital. The Biennale offers a unique opportunity to expand the boundaries of Jewish art beyond traditional Judaica to a wider range of mediums, including photography, video art, installation and performance.

“The Jerusalem Biennale will create a space where different, even contradictory ideas of what contemporary Jewish art is can take root , grow and develop.” – Ram Ozeri, Director and Founder of Jerusalem Biennale

This year’s theme: Watershed

This year’s Biennale focuses on Israel as a watershed – historically, geographically and politically. The theme will be expressed in issues as varied as Jewish identity, immigration, and Israeli society, and in such watershed moments in Israeli history such as the Balfour Declaration.

Everybody should have an equal access to Art!

As the central address for art that is both contemporary and Jewish, the Biennale aims to make Jerusalem the world platform for Jewish Contemporary Art. But what is even more important for us is to give people an opportunity to experience the art and join the discourse about it! The art cannot restrict itself only to certain circles of dedicated art lovers, it should be spread out reachable to all.

This year, with your help, we want to make sure that the Biennale will be accessible to anyone who wants to  experience it, regardless of economic situation or geographic location. This includes students, seniors,  people in need, and people with disabilities – everyone!

How You Can Help

First of all and the simplest – buy tickets for yourself, for friends, for people you care about who couldn’t otherwise attend the Biennale without your support – be it a group or institution. Order tickets in their name, and we’ll reach out to them and let them know that you covered their entrance so they, too, can have an unforgettable Art experience.

We will be reaching out to as wide an audience as possible with special promotional events and advertising, and offer special terms to people with special needs. This includes assisted access to children, seniors, Holocaust survivors, people with disabilities and low-income people, especially from the periphery of Israel. In addition, we are cooperating with the Ministery of Education to bring art classes from the schools in the periphery which cannot cover such costs by themselves, an exclusive education outreach initiative of the Biennale.

With YOUR HELP we can make it happen!

In the city of Jerusalem, home to so many cultures and ideas, it is only fitting that this Biennale become the platform for artists and visitors to share the creative atmosphere in the spirit of diversity and expression.

Help us make the Jewish Contemporary Art more accessible to all people and put Jerusalem on the world map of Art!

All the funds raised in this campaign go directly to cover expenses for Biennale outreach  initiatives, helping us to expose the art to as wide audience as possible. All donations are tax-deductible in the U.S.!

About us

In 2010, Ram Ozeri, our Director and Founder, visited the Berlin Biennale 2010 and it sparked an idea – why not create a platform in Jerusalem for presenting contemporary Jewish art, long marginalized by the Israeli art world, to the general public?

At first we started as a small group of enthusiasts  to brainstorm, reach out the artists, raise money and make friends and  collaborate to create the initial platform for such event. This led to the first Jerusalem Biennale in 2013, which  featured works from 60 artists conveying distinct points of view of Contemporary Jewish Art.

Today our family includes dozens of activists and art lovers and the 3rd Jerusalem Biennale will showcase more than 200 artists, – religious and secular, established and emerging, Sephardic and Ashkenazi, from Israel, Europe, the U.S, Russia, and even India. We have also been invited to bring our exhibitions to different Jewish communities after the Biennale ends, as we did after the 2015 event, to New York, Miami and San Diego with previous works.

“Put Jerusalem on the map of Art: Contemporary Jewish Art” is being spearheaded by a member of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation network and has been awarded a matching grant. Schusterman is a global organization that seeks to ignite the passion and unleash the power in young people to create positive change for themselves, the Jewish community and the broader world. Learn more about the Foundation here.