Karmela Berg: 2012

Friday, November 30, 2012

The Four Elements

Installation: Fire by Karmela Berg.

Exhibition with four artists from Finland: Pirjo Heino, Pirjo Partanen, Pirjo Dufava and
Pirjo Keskinen.

Exhibited at The Herzliya Municipal Gallery, Herzliya, Israel (November 2012).

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

The Coaster Project

TransCultural Exchange’s 10th Year Anniversary of The Coaster Project, Destination: The World

Trans Cultural Exchange (TCE) is an award winning, non profit, arts organization based in Boston, USA, whose mission is to bridge cultural, geographical, political and linguistic divides through the arts.

Between March 9 and May 19, 2002, 99+ artists transcended geographical, political and cultural boundaries to stage 99+ exhibitions throughout the world. Afterwards, all 10,000+ art works were given away in the guise of “coasters” at bars, cafes and restaurants.

For Toronto’s 2012 Culture Works Festival the original Coaster Project artists joined in celebrating their earlier efforts in the spirit of the original project - bringing art directly into the world.
"Make an artwork. Exhibit here. Take another. Place it under a drink: Instant coaster. Enjoy the thrill of being a collector. Then, give it away. Go ahead. Life is short; add a little joy".

The festival was held during July 2012.

visit: http://www.transculturalexchange.org/coasterproject/index_fr.ht

The Coaster Project was an international art event by TCE and the Fuller Museum in Boston, USA.

99 artists from 35 countries around the world (Korea, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, USA, Ireland, Poland, China, India, United Kingdom, Turkey, Israel and many more) participated in creating miniature art in the shape of coasters, exhibited in 99 different locations worldwide and later given away to the crowd.

In Israel the project was curated by Karmela Berg and exhibited at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque (2002).

Greetings from the Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo

Dear Mrs. Berg,

I have been pleased to receive your letter of May 12^th 2002 and happy to learn about the successful Miniatures Coasters Exhibition at the Tel Aviv Cinemateque of which you were the curator.

Bless you!

Sincerely,

Ron Huldai
Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo.

Berkshire Fine Arts article

TransCulturalExchange, under the direction of Mary Sherman, has been active in the
Boston area since 1998. A goal of each conference on International Opportunities in the Arts, since 2007, has been to bring together and connect world-wide artists with artists or artists with organizations, universities and communities, as well as promoting inter-organizational work. Further, to advance art and culture, global education, peace and friendship.

We asked Lynne Allan, Director of the School of Visual Arts, at Boston University to comment, and she replied as follows: “The College of Fine Arts is enormously pleased to host the October 2013 TransCultural Exchange Conference on Boston University campus. Most events will take place within easy reach of each other, in the 808 Gallery and the George Sherman Union on Commonwealth Avenue. We will utilize the large Metcalf Ballroom and ancillary seminar spaces and auditorium. The area is convenient to local restaurants, the MBTA and in walking distance to the designated conference hotel, The Hyatt Regency, and other area hotels. The location on the Charles River offers scenic views and lovely walking paths right on campus.”

The TransCultural Exchange website has posted an overview on the upcoming conference and will update periodically. In advance of the conference there are already many events planned in the Boston area, also for early arriving conference attendees. Some events and panel presentations will be scheduled at other universities, as during prior conferences.

Individuals, organizations and universities have hosted artists in many different ways for decades. TransCultural Exchange (TCE) highlighted these many activities and has introduced individuals and representatives of countless programs and projects since the 2007conference. We are offering examples of only a slice of international possibilities here, as TCE has opened opportunities to registrants and participants to connect and interconnect as never before.

Karmela Berg, a noted Israeli artist, lives and works in Tel-Aviv and all over the world. We met at the 2011 TCE conference. At the time she introduced me to her project: ‘Knowing You Knowing Me,’ conceived as group exhibitions by four artists. Other members of the group are from Sweden, The Netherlands and India. The exhibitions are largely educational, with a student art making component, and easily mobile, as one can see in the accompanying photos. The shows were installed in 2010-11 in Uppsala, Sweden, the Hampden Gallery of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, in conjunction with the 2011 TCE Conference, and Groningen, The Netherlands. This project will still be exhibited in Israel and India, to conclude the cycle.

In 2012 Berg and some members of her group of artist friends, traveled to ‘Huntenkunst’ in Ulft, Holland, near the German border. It is a yearly event and approximately 200 national and international artists participated. 4000 visitors came mostly from Holland and Germany. A large former factory complex was refurbished into an exhibition hall, a library, a theatre and a music center. There are also new artist studios and a restaurant.

Exhibiting artists of this juried show, brought work in many media and arrived to prepare their own installations. 60 % were international artists, and opportunities for world-wide communications, connections and friendships are part of the deal. Artists were available to the visitors, answering questions, and to meet curators and gallery owners. Berg and her sub-group: Aldrik Salverda from The Netherlands, Eva Ryn Johannisen from Sweden, Leny van Elk, also from The Netherlands and Brigitte Gmachreich from Germany actually met there intensely to discuss and design a new project.

They held their own five day symposium, which was well planned in advance. Berg writes: "We enjoyed our brain-storming sessions, and the company of artists in planning, thinking and eating together. Those were five beautiful days." The new exhibition’s title could be (or not): ‘Nature to People is Like Water to Fish,’ and will be presented in The Netherlands in May, 2013. The concept is based on A.D. Gordon’s abbreviated writings and translation from Hebrew: “...Man must always be in nature, because he is Man. To Man, who is sensitive and aware, nature is like water to the fish.” Discussions about concept and work are continuing long distance and via email.

Berg also introduced several artists in Holland to ‘The Coaster Project, Destination: The World’ of 2012, where thousands of coaster size artworks (4x4” or 10x10cm) will be freely given away at the Toronto Culture Work Festival. The 2012 project celebrates the 10th anniversary of TCE’s Coaster Project of 2002. Her artist friends have already sent small works to this year’s Coaster Project. She also hopes that more of her international colleagues will participate in the 2013 TCE conference in Boston.

Written by: Astrid Hiemer, 07/01/2012.

for the full article visit: http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/07-01-2012_transcultural-exchange-announces-global-conference-2013.htm

Aunt Frida

Exhibited in The Global Portrait Party at Eclipse Mill Gallery, North Adams, USA (May 2012).

The portrait parties started in Toronto, Canada and are being planned globally with ‘Friend Me Projects’ (FMP) and are Facebook based.

visit: http://berkshirefinearts.com/05-23-2012_eclipse-mill-gallery-held-global-portrait-paint-party.htm

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Knowing You Knowing Me

Upcoming venues in Israel and India.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Huntenkunst

Huntenkunst: International Podium for Contemporary Art at Doetichem (2008 & 2009) and Ulft (May 2012), The Netherlands.

visit: www.huntenkunst.org

Akros

Group exhibition at Akros Gallery, Bilbao, Spain (2009).

Monday, August 6, 2012

Anthologie: Chacun a un nom, 23 femmes poetes et artistes d'Israel

A French anthology of 23 israeli woman poets and artists.

Berg created four drawings for Poet Maya Bejerano's six poems.

Published: Edition Caracteres, Paris, 2008.

While reading Maya Bezerano's poems, I was overwhelmed with the dramatic story and loved the titles. My inspiration takes place where her images of words are meeting my images of colors and shapes. My work is a plastic interpretation of Maya Bezerano verbal imagination and the result leads us to a new magical world. The poetess describes her personal experience through wide spectrum of feelings of love, anger, joy, etc.

I could admire and easily identify with her poems' universal message.

Biennale D'Arte Sacra

The Three Faces of Miriam

For the 5th Biennale D'Arte Sacra, artists from the three major religions were invited to express their artistic interpretation of the subject: "The Three Faces of Miriam".

Karmela Berg's aesthetic vision, as seen through the experience of contemporary Italian art, is firmly rooted in the Trans-Avantgarde movement, with specific references to artists such as Sandro China and Mimmo Paladino. Berg's works are not descriptive, but synthetic. Through a process of subtraction, her human figures are often reduced to the contours of the head, while the diversity of human types is expressed through subtle chromatic variations and a divergent treatment of space, highlighting each figure's unique identity as well as the objective diversity of the group. Side by side with this humanity, is the inclusion of fundamental symbolic forms: the ladder, the earth, the sky, the braid. All is stitched together anew. These images suggest the union between various elements and are meant by the artist to serve as a bridge across human differences. The color range gives priority to earth tones and shades, highlighting the earthly element of this work's universal message.

Stefania Severi, Art critic.

Translated from French by Yael Shneerson.

Exhibited at The 5th Biennale D'Arte Sacra, Siena, Italy (2004).

Jacob's Ladder

For the 6th Biennale D'Arte Sacra, artists from the three major religions were invited to express their artistic interpretation of the subject: "Angels".

In Jewish mythology, the angels were celestial, semi-divine creatures that populated the upper worlds, the hosts of heaven that filled the firmaments around God. They played different roles, performed godly missions, and were entrusted with various divine powers. As the direct divine presence lessened, the angels performed gradually increasing roles, emerging in mediation positions, interceding between God and man.

Some say that the angels are the sons of God. Others have it that they were created by and subjected to God, and the syllable "el" (=God) in their names – e.g. Michael, Gabriel – indicates His mastery over them.

In order to regulate the angelic world, God created the archangels who governed all other angels. Michael was appointed chief of the virtuous; Uriel reigned over the universe and heavenly bodies as regent of the sun, the moon and the stars, and presider over the underworld (Sheol, Hades); Raphael was entrusted with human souls and with healing disease; Gabriel ruled the Garden of Eden; Peniel was entrusted with repentance; and so on and so forth. Numerous holy angels and cherubs were also created, whose role was to surround God and magnify his glory: angels of peace and angels of compassion, as well as angels of fury and destruction, whose place of residence was far-removed from the Lord. The good angels were also called angels of servitude and they accompanied the righteous, protected the God-fearing, and punished the evil.

Angels were usually winged, but when they operated in God's missions in the world, they often assumed human form. Some performed their mission clandestinely, others gained fame.

The first encounter between angels and man occurred when Adam was given the Book of the Heavens which contained the secrets of the universe and mankind and was to be handed over to the next generations. The angels brought Avraham the tidings of the birth of his son, Isaac. Angels warned Lot to flee before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and when the men of Sodom compassed Lot's house, the angels saved Lot from the assault by temporarily blinding the mob.

Angels usually emerged in times of fateful changes in the life of the individual or the collective. An angel appeared to Abraham, preventing him from sacrificing Isaac. Angels appeared in Jacob's life on several occasions: in the dream of a ladder set up on the earth, whose top reached to heaven, with angels of God ascending and descending on it. On another occasion, Jacob wrestled with an angel in human form all night, and the angel failed to prevail, but only inflicted him with an injury in the hollow of his thigh; some say the angel guarded Jacob until his death.

Archangel Michael appeared to Moses in the burning bush, and only then did God himself speak to him. When the Egyptians chased the Israelites and they went into the Red Sea, it is told that five spectacular men appeared riding horses out of the sky, shooting arrows and lightning at the Egyptians. When the Israelites escaped from Pharaoh's troops in the desert, an angel moved before and behind the camp, accompanying and protecting them throughout the entire journey in the desert. During the Revelation at Sinai too, when God descended upon the mountain, twenty thousand chariots with angels of servitude descended with him.

A man with a drawn sword appeared to Joshua, who asked him whether he was a friend or a foe; the man did not answer, but gave instructions and advice for the conquest of Jericho. Similarly, an angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, commanding him to deliver Israel from the Midianites. During the Kings period, the number of angelic apparitions declined. In Ahab's time prophet Elijah fled to the desert, seeking death, but an angel encouraged him and gave him food and strength to walk forty days and nights to Mount Horeb – the mountain of God. Elijah is the last human being to have encountered an angel face to face in wakefulness.

In the Prophets' visions angels once again multiply. Seraphs appeared to Isaiah standing above God's throne, with six wings each, covering their faces with their wings and singing out loud the praise of God. The angels appeared as wheels of God's divine Chariot to Ezekiel, while Haggai himself was described as an angel. An angel spoke from within Zechariah's body and solved prophetic riddles, and angels rescued Daniel from the lions' den.

Angelic activity during the time of our Sages was somewhat different. Just as Torah scholars engaged in learning and in terrestrial, corporeal judgments, so the angels sat as an angelic host in the celestial court, taking part in divine judgment. Their status was diminished, and it was said that the people of Israel are closer to the Creator than the angels, for they keep the Commandments while the angels do not. Rabbi Akiva doubted the angels divinity too.

Maimonides held that the angels are ranked according to their knowledge and closeness to God. Ashkenazi Hasidim in Jewish communities on the Rhine in the 12th century described an angel world divided into two: in the lower order dwelled the "appointed" or "fate" angels, inferior angels that carried out the various decrees and were specifically responsible for every person, creature, and nation. Above them dwelled the higher order angels who took part in the Merkavah world surrounding the throne of God. The 13th century Kabbalists used to say that man surpasses the angels in his constitution, and that the soul was hewn from the very purity of divine emanation (Atzilut), which is loftier than the angelic substance. The angels appeared once again to the Kabbalists, as they did to the Midrash compilers: as angels of mercy and angels of judgment, angels of servitude serving the aspect of sanctity, and angels of destruction serving the world of impurity.

The angels were created of divine light on the first day before all other creatures, and are immortal. They are made of the celestial elements: compassion, power, beauty, and authority, which correspond with the corporeal elements of water, fire, air, and earth. They are not corporeal, but their form is human, and in this they differ from the demons. Angels appeared in human form, having assumed a corporeal body. Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov had it that angels and demons accompanied him wherever he went. But there were also angels that appeared only in spirit, based on the wisdom of the observing man.

The modern era did not do favor with the angels. The rationalist Jewish scholars, both orthodox and secular, generally underestimated the status and significance of various companions of God. One of the last angels reported was the angel of history described by Walter Benjamin who identified him in a painting by Paul Klee (Angelus Novus): the angel standing there looks back in horror, his eyes are staring, his mouth is wide open, and his wings are spread. The storm is so strong that it irresistibly propels him into the future to which his back is turned. This storm, says Benjamin, is what we call progress.

Exhibited at The 6th Biennale D'Arte Sacra, Siena & Rome, Italy (2006).

Abstra

Abstra is a group of artists from Sweden, Denmark, Canada and Israel, who work and express their artistic ideas in various abstract ways. They exhibit together while looking to learn from each others different points of view.

Exhibitions:

- Akros Gallery, Bilbao, Spain (2003).

- Gallery Astel, Copenhagen, Denmark (2004).

- Art Se Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden (2004 & 2006).

- Bucks21, Marlow, England (2006).

Sunday, August 5, 2012

The Tile Project

Susana Kokkonen, Finland Cultural Attache

Mordechai Omer, Curator of Tel Aviv Museum and
Prof. Jechiel Lichtenstadt, Dean, Sakler Faculty of Exact Sciences

Trans Cultural Exchange (TCE) is an award winning, Boston based non-profit arts organization.

The organization's endeavor "The Tile Project, Destination: The World” (2004) comprised
of artists from over 35 nations.
TCE's mission is to foster a greater understanding of world cultures through art
exchanges, exhibitions and related events.

By bringing artists around the world together through our international projects, we seek to

bridge political, social and geographic divides and to foster an exchange of ideas,

about international peace and cooperation.

We aim to affirm the hope that people of the world can cross superficial boundaries

and work towards peace and understanding, regardless of nationality, race, gender or age.

The spirit of the Tile Project will resonate loudly amongst individuals and their communities

around the world.

100 artists from different countries of the world brought their artistic work together to

install 22 collective pieces of art at 22 site in different countries, in order to create a harmony

from their religious, lingual, social, cultural and political differences.

visit: www.transculturalexchange.org

In Israel the project was curated by Karmela Berg and is permanently displayed at the Faculty of Exact Sciences, Tel Aviv University.