Raphie Etgar

Raphie Etgar (born August 1947, Jerusalem) is an Israeli artist and curator who has served as artistic Director of Museum on the Seam since its establishment in 2000 and until 2021.

Biography

In 1972, Etgar graduated from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem.

In 1980–1995 Etgar was a poster designer. He created over one thousand posters and prints for theater and cultural events in those years. Etgar was invited to lecture and direct projects in academies and art institutions such as
Akademie der Künste, Berlin \
National College of Art and Design, Dublin \
Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Vienna \
Hochschule der Künste, Zurich \
Akademija Likovnih Umjetnosti, Sarajevo \
Kunstakademie, Düsseldorf \
Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Stuttgart

In 1990–1999, Etgar was invited to serve as an art director and artist in residence to the S. FISHER publishing house in Germany. As part of his work he initiated a project that incorporates many leading authors and creates art works inspired by their books. Project "Bücher werden Plakate" involved Nobel Prize winning authors such as: Nadine Gordimer, J. M. Coetzee and Kenzaburō Ōe among others. His work with these renowned authors created a unique dialogue between the artistic and literary worlds that enriched the reading experience through the visual one.

The exhibitions he curates deal with issues at the center of public discourse, human rights, civic responsibility and the commitment to bring moral and social change through contemporary art in local and universal contexts. One of the objectives of the museum is to create dialogue in face of disagreement. The museum was named by '' The New York Times'' as one of the 29 leading art venues around the globe.
In 2000 Etgar initiated the exhibition COEXISTENCE: an international project that incorporates leading poster designers from around the globe. The project was displayed in over 35 cities and called for mutual understanding between fellow nations and religions.Raphie Etgar, Coexistance : the Art of Living Together (Museum on the Seam, 2006)

Curated exhibitions

* 2005
DEAD END
which dealt with the violence within Israeli society.
* 2006
EQUAL AND LESS EQUAL
that focused on the issues of discrimination exploitation and humiliation.
* 2007
BARE LIFE
about the personal and public consequences of a prolong state of emergency that becomes legitimized;
* 2008
HEARTQUAKE
that examined the central role of anxiety in human interactions with their surroundings, thus examining the dynamics of social and political interactions.
* 2009
NATURE NATION
that dealt with the complexity of encounters between humans with their natural environment.
* 2010
THE RIGHT TO PROTEST
about the obligation that comes with the privilege of protest.
* 2011
WEST END
about the clash of civilizations between Islam and the west and the possible consequences.
* 2012
BEYOND MEMORY
faces the viewers with works of art that expose images delved from the archives of repression and denial of fears and anxieties from our past experiences, in an attempt to learn from them how to avoid repeating past mistakes.
* 2013
FLESH & BlOOD
that calls upon us to look at flesh and blood as a fabric that connects all living beings to one family and to treat it with respect and compassion.
* 2013
EVERYONE CARRIES A ROOM INSIDE
that examines loneliness as a major contemporary phenomenon, gaining more and more impact on people’s lives.
* 2014
AND THE TREES WENT FORTH TO SEEK A KING
critically examines the complex inter-relationship between leaders and their subjects.
* 2015
UNPROTECTED ZONE
about the responsibility and the ability of the individual to alter and influence his own future and his surroundings. The exhibition also deals with the question to what extent does the establishment and society intervenes in restricting the individual and shaping his world.
* 2017
THOU SHALT NOT
which dealt with the interaction between the world of faith and the world of art, and served as a mirror depicting our times and their constant change.
* 2018
THE WOMEN BEHIND
about the inner world of women, while identifying cases of subjugation and discrimination that mostly occur in the private and public spheres.
* 2019
THE CASE OF HIROSHIMA
about the consequences of a total annihilation which the humanity produces, and the discussion issues of identity and ethics.
* 2019
EVEN THE TREES BLEED
about the aesthetic, cultural, national and political meanings between trees and men, and their interdependence upon one another.
* 2019
JERUSALEM - SELF PORTRAIT
the story of a city which brings together different people who though may be poles apart.
* 2019
DEMOCRACY NOW
has democracy become a synonym for corruption?
* 2020
THE UNCANNY
about the terrible trauma we simultaneously dreads and are attracted to.
* 2019
THE CRYING GAME
about the horrors that lie a step or two away from the lives that most of us live.
* 2020
REBIRTH
contemplates the natural forces and their innermost being, offering a moving experience of the process of creation in which the spirit is briefly touched and we are reborn.
* 2020
PINCHAS COHEN GAN
a personal confession of an individual, expressing his critique and conveys a sense of existential meaning in a society consumed with its cultural and ethical difficulties.
* 2020
METROPOLIS
about humankind’s race to reach further and higher.
* 2020
GOLEM
is humankind on the verge of a struggle for control versus man-made machines, which are beginning to form their own independent thoughts?
* 2020
WASTELAND
about the reality in light of the recent grave natural phenomena which are threatening our planet’s existence.
* 2020
NOT BY THE DRESS ALONE
do we make the clothes or do the clothes make us?
* 2021
LIFE/STILL LIFE/LAND
A tension ridden reality of the aggressive and divided Israeli society, which is prone to violent conflicts such as are expressed in the exhibition.

Solo exhibitions

* 1990, Cambridge, Harvard University
* 1995, Jerusalem, Israel Museum- Palevsky Pavilion
* 1998, Essen, The German Poster Museum

File:Raphie Etgar- "Der See" by Gerhard Roth (Book cover).jpg
File:Raphie Etgar- "Across the Bridge" by Mavis Gallant (Book cover).jpg
File:Raphie Etgar- "The Soft Voice of the Serpent" by Nadine Gordimer (Book cover).jpg
File:Raphie Etgar- "Information" by Martin Amis (Book cover).jpg
File:Raphie Etgar- Habima Theatre.jpg
File:Raphie Etgar- BlueWhite.jpg, Raphie Etgar, BlueWhite. After Yitzhak Rabin's assassination, 1995

See also

*Israeli art

References

External links

Museum on the Seam website


Coexistence Exhibition website.
* Akin Ajayi
Jerusalem Museum Straddles the Line Between Art and Politics
Haaretz, 23 November 2012.
* Robert Fisk

The Independent, 27 September 2011.


Bloomberg TV, 7 May 2012.

Coexistance Exhibition is Displayed in the Quad Cities
31 August 2007.

Coexistence: Political Art in Auckland's Britomart
Thread-NZ: Culture Latestnews.

No Boundaries - "Coexistence: The Art of Living Together" Merges Art, Education, & Controversy
River Cities' Reader, 15 August 2007.

The Hartford Hosts COEXISTENCE on Asylum Hill: Internationally Acclaimed Exhibition Comes to Insurer's World Headquarters in Connecticut
The Corporate Social Responsibility Newswire, 11 April 2007.


Scoop Culture, 31 January 2006.


Arizona Daily Wildcat, 3 February 2005.

Artists, Writers Call for 'Coexistence' around the World
Business Wire, 20 September 2004.

'Coexistence' Exhibit Defaced
St. Petersburg Times, 15 December 2003.

Arts & Culture Israeli Exhibit on Coexistence Gets Warm Welcome in South Africa
The Global Jewish News, 31 March 2003.

Swiss Info, 18 April 2002.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Etgar, Raphie
Israeli artists
Israeli graphic designers
Israeli poster artists
1947 births
Living people
Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design alumni