Europe Day 2021: Towards a New Community Post COVID-19

The EU Delegation to the State of Israel, together with 17 of its EU Member states, celebrates Europe Day with special video art installations in Eilat, Haifa and Tel Aviv

Dozens of works, by some of Europe and Israel’s leading artists, deal with the issue of a post COVID-19 Society.

The European Union Delegation to the State of Israel is celebrating this year’s Europe Day by organizing four special video art installations in Eilat, Haifa and Tel Aviv.

The event is held in cooperation with 17 different cultural institutes and attaches, all supporting an artist taking place in the installation.

Locations and times
Eilat: 17.6 – at the Eilat boardwalk
Haifa: 19.6 – at the Haifa Turkish Market
Tel Aviv: 24.6 – at Habima Square ; 29.6 – Cameri Theatre Square
The installations will begin after sunset (19:00) and continue until late at night (01:00 in Haifa and Eilat; 23:00 in Tel Aviv). 

From Poland will participate in the event the artist Rafał Żarski.  

Żarski`s video shows an image of a contemporary revolutionary roaming around aimlessly in the public space, holding a sportive spear and wearing a mask in the colors of the Coca-Cola logo (or the Polish flag). Żarski maintains an ironic distance from the notion of the revulutionary. He is neither engaged in political revolution nor fulfills the romantic idea of a rebel without a cause, but rather offers a committed critical statement in defiance of reality.

Rafał Żarski (b. 1989, lives and works in Poznań) is an interdisciplinary visual artist. In 2016 He received his MFA from the Photomedia Studio at the Academy of Arts in Szczecin (Poland). In 2013, he was awarded the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage for students of art schools for outstanding creative achievements. In 2016-2020 together with polish curator Tomek Pawłowski, he cocreated an experimental travel agency which had organized trips, walks, and performative tours, which consisted in creating alternative experiences in the city’s spaces, galleries and art institutions. From 2017 He participates in Flow project – a mobile artist residency based on the experience of the Vistula river. In 2018 He took part in a residency program in Brno House of Art (Czech Republic).

The partners:

Embassy of Belgium, The Czech Centre, Embassy of Denmark, Embassy of Germany, Embassy of Estonia, Embassy of Ireland, Embassy of Greece, Embassy of Spain, The French Cultural Institute, The Lithuanian cultural Institute, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, The Austrian Cultural Forum, The Polish Institute Tel Aviv, The Romanian Cultural Institute, Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia, Embassy of Finland and Embassy of Sweden.

Each installation will include several screens, showcasing 20 fascinating video art works (1-6 minutes each, and curated by Avi Lubin), all centred around the same topic: the new communities of the world, following the COVID-19 crisis. The artists represent some of Europe and Israel’s finest and most well-respected video artists. Some of the works will be presented for the first time.
After a year of isolation, quarantines and solitude, we are now facing the need to rethink the idea of a community. Permanent changes occurred in our understanding of what it means to live together and physical distancing influenced the way we understand the idea of “being together” both from a distance and in isolation. The works raise questions about our ability to disassemble and reassemble our understanding of terms like being together and being alone and establish new thoughts about how to build a new community following the epidemic.
The European Union is constantly striving to build stronger and healthier communities around the world, including in Israel. The crisis saw young community leaders, in all sectors and areas of the Israeli society, rise up to lead their communities through these difficult times. And it is on these new foundations that the EU will continue to operate.
European Union Ambassador to Israel Emanuele Giaufret: “I am very excited about this event, which allows Israeli citizens to enjoy some fascinating art in their public space. The EU sees great importance in cooperation that goes beyond trade and innovation, and ventures into the world of the culture and the art, for the benefit of all Israelis and Europeans. The COVID-19 crisis forced all of us into the confinements of our homes. Thankfully, here in Israel we can all now enjoy great art in the fresh open air”.