kibbutz – Art Spiel

November 17, 2023November 12, 2023, by Gilad Melzer

Another Victim of Hamas: A Kibbutz’s Art Gallery

In Hamas’ destruction of Kibbutz Be’eri, the terrorists also came for curator Sofie Berzon MacKie and her family. They survived, but the kibbutz’s gallery was burned to the ground

Osnat Ben Dov's exhibition "Shadow of a Passing Bird" at Kibbutz Be'eri, before the attack. — Osnat Ben Dov’s exhibition “Shadow of a Passing Bird” at Kibbutz Be’eri, before the attack.Credit: Michal Revivo

This article by Gilad Melzer for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz was published in Haaretz English version on November 2, 2023.

On Friday October 6, Sofie Berzon MacKie, the curator of Kibbutz Be’eri’s gallery, was busy preparing herself for a long day at work the following morning. She knew that Saturday was the last day of a week-long Sukkot holiday, and hoped that visitors would throng to the current exhibition shown at the gallery, “Shadow of a Passing Bird,” by photographer Osnat Ben Dov.

November 7, 2023November 6, 2023, by Etty Yaniv

Reef Avni – This Was My Home

Photo Story

For 18-year-old photographer Reef Avni, photography became a way to speak at 14 when words were hard to find, a tool against his social anxiety. His father, Hagi, was not only a strong supporter but also a frequent face in his photos, becoming an integral part of the narrative Reef was creating with his camera. The other constant in Avni’s work is documenting daily life in his Kibbutz. As a fourth-generation member of Kibbutz Be’eri, his roots were as embedded in the kibbutz as the farmlands and community his great-grandfather founded in the arid Negev in the south of Israel on the night of October 6, 1946. His grandfather was among its first newborns.

October 25, 2023October 26, 2023, by Anat Or Magal

The Kite Runner from Kfar Aza

מצילומי הלילה של אביב קוץ — Night Photographs, Aviv Kutz

This article was initially published in Portfolio Magazine in Hebrew on October 17^th, 2023. It was translated into English by Sharon Yam Sananes and Ariane Goldberg Davidson and edited by Art Spiel. This publication in Art Spiel is in collaboration with Portfolio Magazine.

The Kutz family had always found hope and solidarity in their ability to create. It was their way of managing and flourishing as a family and as individuals. Aviv, Livnat, Rotem, Yonatan, and Iftach Kutz were murdered in their home. Aviv’s sister, Talya Kutz Shamir—artist and art therapist—talks about the family on her Instagram account, using their art as a jumping-off point for conversation.