DIVIDED WATERS IN VENICE

“Divided Waters”, an exhibition of contemporary art, commemorates the 500th anniversary of the Jewish Ghetto in Venice, May 26 – September 29, 2016, at the Palazzo Fontana, Venice, Italy.

Opening Reception: Thursday, May 26, 2016, 10am-12pm

Inspired by the 500th Anniversary of the Jewish Ghetto’s creation in Venice, the exhibition presents the work of Ghiora Aharoni, Yael Kanarek, Edith Derdyk and Mirta Kupferminc in a group exhibition curated by OTT. The text-based work of these four acclaimed artists from around the globe, reverberate in excitingly different yet similar ways, exploring ideas of creation, existence and co-existence across a temporal, metaphysical and spiritual spectrum.

Sigmund Freud said that Judaism is an invisible building constructed on top of a loss that granted meaning as a cultural foundation. Inspired by the historical significance of the Jewish Ghetto—a place divided from the rest of Venice by water—these text-based artworks transcend boundaries and metaphorically build bridges over divided waters.

The works inspect not just the symbolic and abstract aspects of the book, the word and the letter—but also the import of their materiality, the energy of their presence. “Divided Waters” takes us where only art can go, from the very origin of our world through the realms of our existence.

“Divided Waters” is the first presentation of a two-year project by OTT/Citizens Of The Text culminating in 2017 in the Citizens Of The Text exhibition in Venice, Italy held simultaneously with the 57th Venice Biennale. Art, installations and performances, inspired by Jewish texts and imbued with questions of contemporary relevance, will engage the Biennale’s international audience in an inclusive dialogue using art as a lens to explore our contemporary existence.

OTT, an international non-profit organization based in New York City, presents work by international visual and performing artists—cultural messengers creating art, inspired by the contemplation of classic Jewish text, which transcends politics, nationality and language. The bringing together of this diverse group of text-inspired artists to exhibit as Citizens Of The Text, is a personification of the global cultural identity of Jewish people today—a singular people separated by geography yet united in the metaphysical territory of text. OTT is both an acronym for Of The Text, and the Hebrew word for letter. OTT/Citizens Of The Text is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization.

“Divided Waters”
Ghiora Aharoni, Edith Derdyk, Yael Kanarek and Mirta Kuperferminc May 26- September 25, 2016
Palazzo Fontana, Venice Italy
Cannaregio 3829, Calle Palazzo Fontana 30121 Venezia
Exhibition Hours: Wednesday – Sunday, 10 AM – 6 PM