Our Vision - Creating a Stage

The Jerusalem Biennale is dedicated to exploring the places in which contemporary art and the Jewish world of content meet. It is a stage for professional artists, who create today and refer in their work to Jewish thought, spirit, tradition or experience, to exhibit their work in Jerusalem.

Mission

The central mission of the Jerusalem Biennale is to facilitate the manifestation of various creative forces in Jerusalem, within the framework of Contemporary Jewish Art. The Biennale strives to exhibit the most updated, challenging, creative and varied selection of exhibitions and events under this framework.

The Biennale explores the idea of expanding the concept of Jewish Art beyond the field of Judaica (though it is certainly possible that works of Judaica will be incorporated in the exhibitions) to mediums such as photography, video art, installation and performance. The Biennale works in a bottom-up approach - we do not attempt to define Contemporary Jewish Art, but rather aim to discover and stimulate a multitude of creative responses. 

JB2013 The first ever Jerusalem Biennale hosted works from more than 60 artists from diverse backgrounds: religious and secular, established and emerging, Sephardic and Ashkenazi, and from Israel and abroad. All participants conveyed their distinct points of view of Contemporary Jewish Art.

JB2015 Expanded not only in quantity of exhibitions and participating artists, but it also presented a broader range of perspectives: The numbers of international artists grew significantly and well established artists like Sigalit Landau, Motti Mizrachi and Pablo Lobato took part. Moreover, our open platform encouraged the participation of non-Jewish artists interested in the Jewish world.  These artists and curators shared their own points of view and became part of the discourse the Jerusalem Biennale aims to promote.

JB2017 Having received proposals from over 90 curators and groups, the Biennale experienced exponential growth in 2017. The Jerusalem Biennale showcased over 200 artists from Israel, Europe, the U.S., Russia and even India.  Each exhibition shined its own light on the Watershed theme through Contemporary Jewish Art. A two-day conference, titled Watershed: Boundaries and Spaces in Contemporary Jewish Art, was held and the Inspire Education Program launched for the first time, bringing 500 high school students from the periphery on a fully funded visit to the Jerusalem Biennale.

JB2019 Is in the works! Check out the dates, theme and submission details.