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

Yigal Shem Tov

Born in 1952 in Israel.

Yigal Shem Tov studied at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, the Pratt Institute in New York, and other institutions. In 2005 he won the Tel Aviv Museum of Art’s Constantiner Award for Photography.

Shem Tov describes his attitude to the environment as a cautious relationship of respect and emotion. "My view of the landscape completes and accepts it with surrender and love," he says, "for me the defect in the landscape is the sublime. It has no 'backyard' ... the backyard is a viewing convention . . . I create a conflict by glorifying the low things that I photograph . . . I think about how to maintain something not too meticulous, not too clumsy, and not too polished."

Yigal Shem Tov