Hamiffal, one of our favorite spots in central Jerusalem is an art cooperative which, over the past two years, has turned an old abandoned building into a cultural hub and a vibrant home for creativity. HaMiffal works daily as a ‘factory’ of art, allowing dozens of local artists to use the space in order to produce and present their work.

Over the past week, the ever-ambitious HaMiffal has hosted international and Israeli artists from various fields of art for 8 days during  ‘ART BNB’,  using a hostel-like hospitality infrastructure, where artists could sleep, eat and create within the building and 100 meters outwards.  Throughout the week, the participating artists used the space as an artistic hostel, learning about their surrounding environment and making their marks with the help of local researchers and artists. Outside visitors were also invited to participate in a series of unique workshops, lectures and events surrounding the presented artworks.

This years participating artists include:

• Matěj Frank (Poland/Czech Republic) a visual artist working with mainly sculpture (but also incorporating perfomance, drawing and sound art), who deals with spaces in relation to time, motion, body and sound.

•  Emma Vilina Fält (Finland) a visual artist working in the field of drawing, installation and performace art whose main interests are live acts, improvisation, contact and togethernes of drawing.

• Jasmin Schaitl (Austria), an artist and performer who workes internationally, combining minimalism, reduction, precision and an increase of concentration within her primarily meditative working methods.

• Kimbal Quist Bumstead (UK), who ‘sits at the confluence between painting, drawing, video and performance installation, letting them mingle and intertwine’. Using stories as working material, and the notion of a ‘journey’ as a performative methodology, Bumstead explores notions of place and non-place through the lens of subjectivity.

• Jenny Yurshansky  (USA), a visual artist who uses a conceptual and research-based approach to define the material and critical parameters of each of her projects, exploring the empiric and its tension with the poetic.

• Manoel Quitério (Brazil), a visual artist who graduated with a degree in communications and advertising, and now works on public art works, such as large scale murals, around the world.

• Oren Fischer (Israel), a Tel Aviv based artist, curator and communty project manager whose works include, illustrations, videos and sculptures and is known for his distinct, naive style. Fischer focuses on socio-political issues and romanticizing mundane situations.

• And Nicolas Sheikholeslami (Germany).

CAIJ also had the opportunity to sit down briefly  with Yuval Yairi who, along with his partner Noa Yairi, are the artistic managers of ART BNB. Yairi is a well known artist who currently lives and works in Jerusalem. He Studied visual communication at the WIZO College Haifa (1984-1988), was the director of a design studio in Jerusalem (1988-1999), and produced and directed short films and documentaries until 2004. Since 2004 Yairi has devoted his work to research and artistic activity, primarily using the mediums of photography and video.

Hi Yuval, can tell CAIJ readers how the concept of ARTBNB at started?

In 2012, we met the Empty House Group during an event called “Kibbutz”—a group of artists and activists operating in Jerusalem, with a habit of invading empty spaces, and inviting other artists to join them in order to create the temporary,  autonomous “Halls of Culture”, a kind of ‘artistic squatting’.

The “Kibbutz” took place in an abandoned agricultural farm near Armon Hanatsiv, it was created during nearly 3 months and ended in a week of public events. We left the place, leaving behind all the infrastructure which was built. Since then, we have been involved with other Empty House projects, so when HaMiffal started it was natural for us to join in, and we used this same infrastructure to start the ARTBNB.

What future plans do you have for extending the ART BNB project?

We are planning to expand the ‘100 meters radius’ project, which started in parallel to the opening of the ARTBNB.

Join HaMiffal for a special closing event of ARTBNB, where the artists will discuss their works, Saturday, December 30 at 20:00. For more info, click here. 

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