Dafna Shalom, Hamavdil
Fatma Abu Roumi, My Mother's Braid
Dafna Shalom, Evening Prayer
Itzik Badash, Zala
Yael Serlin, Kaddish
Hannan Abu-Hussein, Momentary Freedom
Doris Hakim, Ave Allah
Shula Keshet, Zelophehad's Daughters
Hannan Abu-Hussein, It's My Body and Doesn’t Belong to Anyone
Shula Keshet, Eve-Lilith / Hagar-Ketura
Nechama Golan, Sefer Nashim
Ruth Schreiber, Untitled (The Female Side of God)
Yara Kassem Mahajena, Circumcision
Raida Adon, Rebirth
Yael Serlin, Cartography of Lost Signs
Ruth Schreiber, Progress at last: My Personal Bookcase
Raida Adon, Body Recalled
Amira Ziyan, Jamila
Nechama Golan, "You Shall Walk in Virtuous Ways"
Fatma Abu Roumi, Bridal Kerchief
Andi Arnovitz, Coat of the Agunot
Itzik Badash, Diwani
Amira Ziyan, To Touch the Clouds
Andi Arnovitz, 504 Years Later
Doris Hakim, Veronica
Yara Kassem Mahajena, Untitled
Dafna Shalom, Hamavdil
Fatma Abu Roumi, My Mother's Braid
Yael Serlin, Kaddish
Fatma Abu Roumi, Bridal Kerchief
Dafna Shalom, Evening Prayer
Hannan Abu-Hussein, Momentary Freedom
Nechama Golan, "You Shall Walk in Virtuous Ways"
Ruth Schreiber, Untitled (The Female Side of God)
Shula Keshet, Eve-Lilith / Hagar-Ketura
Nechama Golan, Sefer Nashim (Women's Book)
Andi Arnovitz, 504 Years Later
Shula Keshet, Zelophehad's Daughters
Doris Hakim, Veronica
Doris Hakim, Ave Allah
Itzik Badash, Zala
Hannan Abu-Hussein, It's My Body and Doesn’t Belong to Anyone
Raida Adon, Rebirth
Yara Kassem Mahajena, Circumcision
Ruth Schreiber, Progress at last: My Personal Bookcase
Raida Adon, Body Recalled
Andi Arnovitz, Coat of the Agunot
Amira Ziyan, Jamila
Itzik Badash, Diwani
Yara Kassem Mahajena, Untitled
Yael Serlin, Cartography of Lost Signs
Amira Ziyan, To Touch the Clouds
‘Body Text’ – Curators: Dr. David Sperber and Nurit Jacobs-Yinon
Opening: 31.01.2021
The theologian Mary Daly claimed that “If God is male, then the male is God” and that “the male is God in relation to women”. These statements lead in turn to the claim according to which “God is to man as man is to woman”. Men cover their heads before God as an act of respect and humility whereas women cover their bodies in the presence of men to conceal their sexuality and preserve their modesty. The artists contributing to this exhibition – Muslim, Jewish, Christian, and Druze – create works of defiance and complex inversions that seek to subvert these hierarchies. They criticize the traditions and cultures in which they live and, at the same time, reclaim them for themselves on their own terms. Their endeavor serves as a platform for an ongoing examination of tradition and culture while subverting their regimental structuring and attempting to reshape them. Some of the artists participating in the exhibition direct their work at society and create an explicit and categorical critique against coercive injunctions, laws, and customs. Others address theology and seek to shed light on feminine sides of Divine representations, to reclaim and reread ancient female rituals, and to give voice and visibility to female figures who received a negative or marginal portrayal in patriarchal traditions. Some amalgamate the ‘social’ with the ‘theological’ in their works, frequently by a fusion of sacred texts and the female body. In doing so, they present the body as a source of knowledge and memory, connecting private experience and that of existence among a community. The ‘Body Text’ exhibition seeks to highlight aspects common to feminist artists who create within different cultural and religious realms. Despite their cultural and religious diversity, they are at times perceived as much closer to each other than men and women sharing the same religion or culture. The exhibition presents the voices and faces of the participating artists in the ‘video text’ film clips through which we seek to reveal additional layers of art interpretation, and to emphasize both the similarity and difference between the artworks, the artists, and the diverse worlds in which they operate.
Virtual exhibition as part of the Tager International Conference:
‘Feminism in the Abrahamic Religions’
The online exhibition ‘Body Text’ was curated by Nurit Jacobs-Yinon and Dr. David Sperber, and is presented as part of the Tager International Conference – “Feminism in the Abrahamic Religions, hosted by the Rackman Center operating within the framework of the Faculty of Law of Bar-Ilan University, in conjunction with the Gender Studies Program at Bar-Ilan University and the Center for the Study of Relations between Jews, Christians, and Muslims of the Open University.