The 10’th annual photography festival PHOTO IS:RAEL will be held this year under the theme of Action between November 25 and December 3 2022.  

In the festival, impressive Polish photographer Justyna Mielnikiewicz will take part, she is a press photographer who won many awards and has been documenting Ukraine since 2014.

Alongside this exhibition, works by famous Israeli photographer Michal Chelbin will be shown dealing with a documented voyage in Poland which was focused on documenting families

of Ukrainian refugees. The exhibition will be held at the Enav Culture Center Tel Aviv and around Gan HaIr Tel Aviv.  

The exhibition of Justyna Mielnikiewicz  titled ‘Ukraine flows to its Length’ will present images from the Ukrainian 2014 war as well as the ongoing war.  

The photographs will tell the story of how political tensions between Ukraine and Russia mounted in recent years, which led to the outbreak of the bloody war which is now taking

place in Ukraine.  

Curated by Yeara Rz Haklai – the artists page  

Alongside works by Mielnikiewicz, photographs taken by Ukrainian teenagers who landed in Israel during May and went through a photography workshop held by Mielnikiewicz and Israeli

photographer Tali Ratzker. Lead by PHOTO IS:RAEL and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute Poland.  

Mielnikiewicz is an established, award winning press photographer who focuses on ethnic diversity, wars, social and political conflicts and works with the world’s leading newspapers

and magazines.  

Famous Israeli photographer Michal Chelbin went to Poland on a project which documented refugees and their families as they arrived to Poland and found a haven at the homes

of Polish families which opened their doors to them.  

The families of refugees, from the massive flood that swept Poland which opened its doors to them, were documented at a cover story printed in Haaretz as well as Financial Times,

the works were also shown at Soho Photo Gallery in New York.  

The Ha`aretz newspaper story about the project

The Financial Times story about the project 

TO THE FESTIVAL SITE  

The PHOTO IS: RAEL photography festival seeks to be a meeting point to the hundreds of talented photographers from Israel and the world who show their works alongside thousands

of participants from diverse communities from across the country.  

The festival seeks to make their voices heard in the language of photography, to empower and maintain a meeting point with the tens of thousands of visitors who come to the festival

year after year. The International photography festival is held this year for the 10’th annual time and continues to be the largest photography event in Israel and the only one in the world

which offers space to social activism. Next to the interesting bodies of works by artists and photographers from around the world. The festival will include this year dozens of exhibitions

by leading Israeli and international photographers and will combine multi-disciplinary activities such as dance, performances, video art, music and more.  

The festival is the high-point of the annual activities taken by PHOTO IS:RAEL which is an NGO focused on public good.  

The NGO was established to support social activity and create a dialog between art and the various communities across the country, during its years of work, the NGO offered platforms to

showcase works, carry out research, and placing a spotlight to artistic and social issues via the language of photography.  

TO THE FESTIVAL FACEBOOK PAGE    

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November 23 marks the official opening of the 10th International Photo Festival PHOTO IS:REAL.

PHOTO IS:RAEL is the largest photographic event and one of the biggest artistic events taking place in Israel.

The Polish Institute in Tel Aviv was happy to participate in this project.

Before the official opening of the exhibition, Mrs. Director of IP Anna Raduchowska-Brochwicz together with an employees of the Institute visited the exhibition together with other representatives of cultural institutes and embassies in Israel, partners in this project. Ya’ara Raz Haklai, the main curator of the Festival, showed us around the exhibition.

In 2022, the Festival will be held outdoors at the Enav Cultural Center & City Garden in Tel Aviv from November 23 to December 3.

After the end of the Festival in Tel Aviv, the exhibitions will be presented in additional locations in Israel

Tens of thousands of recipients visit the Festival every year.

The Festival features around 50 local and international photographers (from 25 countries), guided tours and various multi-disciplinary cultural events, musical performances and much more.

One of the main exhibition of the Festival is the project of well-known Israeli artist, Michał Chalbin, entitled In “Their Own Words”, of which we are particularly proud of.

In March 2022, after the outbreak of war in Ukraine, Michal took a photographic tour of Poland and visited polish families that opened their hearts and homes to Ukrainian refugees.

The Haaretz newspaper and the Financial Times, amoung the others, showed the photos from Michal’s visit to Poland in their newspapers. The photos were also presented at the exhibition at the Soho Photo Gallery in New York.

As a part of the Festival, on November 24, a special discussion panel with the participation of Michał Chalbin, UNHCR representative in Israel Mathijs Le Rutte, Katarzyna Dzierżawska from the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in Warsaw, Haaretz journalist Shana Littman and Yasmin Harel, project manager of the “Their Own Words from IP was launched at the Festival. The panel was an opportunity for Mr. Michal Chalbin to present her impressions of her visit to Poland in March 2022, in particular regarding her meetings with Ukrainian refugees.

Admission to the exhibition and all accompanying events are free of charge.

Our partners in the project: Photo Israel, IAM, UNHCR.