KUMZITS: “The Artist is Absent” – Noa Arad Yairi

In 2018 I visited Krakow to participate in the Jewish Culture Festival. This year, I won’t be there in person. My absence is physically present. My self-portrait has been spread around Kazimierz, unprotected, and waiting to find a home. If you see me, will you invite me in? 

Duration: ongoing 

Location: various localizations in Kazimierz 

 Noa Arad Yairi is an artist based in Jerusalem. She graduated from the Visual Communication department at WIZO Haifa Academy of Design in 1988. Between 1989 and 2007, she managed her own design studio. Noa has been collaborating with the Empty House group and the Musalla Group in artistic ventures in public spaces since 2012. She teaches sculpture in the Emuna Academic College of Art, and is an advisor for projects at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design. 

Since 2009, Noa has been focusing on sculpture and installation. Her work is studio-based as well as site-specific, departing from the historical, cultural and political narrative associated with the place. It has been shown in exhibitions and site-specific projects in Israel and abroad, among which Synecdoche, Tzadik Gallery, Tel Aviv (2011); Infiltration (Beyond the 100 meter radius), performance, He’ara 13, Sala Manca Group (2020); If they show me blood, “The 11th Sybil”, Beita Gallery, Jerusalem (2019); Splitting “Hinter/vor und nach der Mauer” (Behind/before and after the Wall), Klostergalerie Zehdenick, Germany (2019); Absent, “The Schneller Order”, Schneller compound, Jerusalem (2019); The Dream of those who are awake, installation, “Hope”, Rishon LeZion Museum (2019); Jewish Culture Festival in Krakow, “Sambation” (2018); Madonnas, “New Members”, The Jerusalem Artists’ House (2018);  Splittings, The 8th Israeli Biennale for Ceramics, Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv (2016). 

Kumzits 

Come and sit, Przyjdź i usiądź, בוא/י שב/י.  

We miss being able to get together, so we created “Kumzits”, which means campfire in Hebrew. A group of us from Jerusalem, Berlin and Krakow developed eight art projects in public space. They are our proverbial campfire. Although most of us could not make it here in person, we are all around Kazimierz. Come and share a moment with us. 

For more information: https://www.jewishfestival.pl/en/kumzits-2/

This project is supported by the Foundation for Polish – German Cooperation, Goethe Institut and The City of Jerusalem. 

Noa Arad Yairi 

Noa Arad Yairi 

Noa Arad Yairi