Art at Mishkenot Sha'ananim

At one of the seminars at Mishkenot Sha'ananim, author David Grossman remarked that during his stay here for the purpose of writing, he requested that the curtains be drawn and all the openings closed so that the view would not distract him and prevent him from concentrating on his creative work. It is indeed difficult to ignore the beauty of Mishkenot Sha’ananim or to compete with it or with the rich collection of works of art that adorn the walls of the residence. The photographic works of Israeli artists included in the Mishkenot collection are displayed in the interior public spaces and guest rooms of Mishkenot Sha'ananim and emphasize the tension between the old and the new—contemporary art versus the immortal landscape of the city’s walls—which is also the story of Jerusalem.

Artists in Mishkenot

Ohad Matalon

Born in Israel in 1972.

Ohad Matalon graduated with a master's degree in art from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in 2007. In 2002, he was awarded Israel’s Mifal Hapais (National Lottery) Award and in 2006 he received the Ministry of Culture and Education’s Young Artist Award.

Matalon's long-term photographic practice involves evading the creation of a recognizable finger print. He is working simultaneously on several photographic projects that have no thematic or stylistic connection, each could be catalogued as a different photographer's work. His photographs here are part of his project, an ongoing attempt to trace the complexity of this place through the outlines of the experience of existence within it. These outlines are geographical, sociological, historical, and economic boundaries. The photographs rely on the tradition of direct documentary photography, although some have been staged or computer processed.

Ohad Matalon