TEL AVIV.- The Tel Aviv Museum of Art has temporarily closed its doors to visitors, in accordance with the regulations to contain the Corona epidemic. The museum is currently focusing its activities on the local art domain and is launching a new program that breaks into the digital space and marks its constant commitment to artists and art created in Israel.

In recent decades, with more and more physical presences being transformed globally into digital forms, the museum is one of the last territories that closely involves physical encounters. While the information revolution and the internet allow for a plethora of content and experiences in a virtual way, the museum establishes the necessity and the possibilities of being there. The current situation provides an ad hoc stop, an immediate disruption of the museum as a real site. It is a fascinating moment where the two elements - the physical and the virtual - are nourished by the essence and the opportunities inherent in the concept of the museum, and new-old questions about its nature are emerging.

Tania Coen-Uzzielli, Director of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art: "The Tel Aviv Museum of Art has been operating for almost 90 years as the leading cultural institution of the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo. As a cornerstone of cultural and artistic activity and discourse, the museum sees itself as committed to the local community at present more than ever. Against the backdrop of globalism that has intensified in recent decades, and alongside the extensive global knowledge sharing between countries in dealing with the Corona epidemic, the importance of local resources, including creativity and thought, became also evident. During this extended period of remoteness, seclusion and alienation, the museum serves as an anchor and a place for reconnection, discovery, continuity and belonging. The consumption of digital information by all of us at this time and the increased use of screens cannot replace the actual experience of art.We see great importance in getting out into the physical space, through outdoor art screening, and in interacting proactively with the local artist community."

Doron Rabina, Chief Curator, Tel Aviv Museum of Art: “The corona pandemic not only causes the loss of human life, it also destroys economies and paralyses countries. This pandemic also convulses the individual’s self-perception, his relationship to the familiar and to the unknown, and uncovers the arbitrariness or the fragility of many fundamental assumptions. It releases, in a universal, but also in a most private way, the 'human' of many safety belts. It is a moment that imposes upon us what art is always interested in, and even strives to achieve: instability, reflection on worldviews, belonging and alienation to the existing order, falsehoods, and truths. There is no reason or possibility that the Museum will not stop to think and look into the hidden significance of this moment”.

Through a Balcony - Video screenings from the Museum's collection visible from the city’s homes
The Tel Aviv Museum of Art, which had to close its doors following the Corona pandemic, goes out into the public domain and will screen video art from the museum's collection on buildings in front of city balconies and windows. Screenings will be held in the evenings in various areas throughout Tel Aviv. Announcements of screenings and locations will be sent to residents. The works deal with the establishment of mechanisms and their disruption, the use of agreed upon signs in culture, and the examination of the position of the human body in relation to the political and the personal. The projection of the works on the walls of the naked city, at this time, reloads them and reinforces the traumatic nucleus inherent in each one of them. Featuring: Ben Hagari, Gilad Ratman, Raafat Hattab, Alona Rodeh, Hila Lulu Lin Farah Kufer Birim

Artist videos
This project takes a look at the artistic endeavors of Israeli artists, through an invitation to independently create short videos that will be uploaded on the museum's digital platforms and incorporated in one context. The museum approached thirty artists, offering to become acquainted with their world, their art, but also with materials that are valuable to them and which are inspirational or a source of reference, enveloping their life and artistic practice. Among the artists: Ruti Sela, Yael Frank, Nimrod Gershuni, Israel Kabala, Naama Tsabar, Lior Waterman, Shay-Lee Horodi and others.

Closed Museum - Documentary Project
Photographer Vardi Kahana is shooting the spaces of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art empty from visitors during these times. Museums around the world have closed their doors to the public, but there is a constant activity of control, conservation and maintenance. Vardi is photographing the permanent display galleries, the works covered to protect them while the museum is closed, as well as the temporary exhibitions that opened and closed as soon as the new regulations were imposed. The project exposes the hidden to the public eye and documents the rare, historical moment of the museum in the hour of a global epidemic.

Purchase of Israeli art
The Museum is launching a new venture to acquire Israeli art in collaboration with Rivka Saker and Uzi Zucker, which will be an annual dedicated contribution to the acquisition of Israeli art and will This will be a significant addition to the ongoing activity of the acquisition group which is committed to the continuous effort to enrich the Museum's collection of Israeli art works to enrich the museum's collections.