The Complete Jessy Cohen Museum is an ongoing project established by artists Effi & Amir together with Igal Ophir, Yaakov Erlich, Haviva Barkol, Pnina Barkol, Dvora Harel, Malka Cohen, Ruti Mizrahi, Tikva Sedes, Rachel Polet, Mimi Rosenberg, Ada Rahamim, and many more Jessy Cohen neighborhood residents.
It is a constantly evolving museum-site that attempts to capture the concept of “place” in is broadest meaning, beyond the concrete-geographic.
The project’s first phase, which is currently coming to an end, comprises two main parts. The first is a timeline of the Jessy Cohen neighborhood describing from different perspectives the main events that took place in the neighborhood from the 1950s to the present. This part is presented on the ground floor of the Israeli Center for Digital Art, and is expected to remain as a permanent exhibition.
The second part proposes a spatial reference, central to which is a map of the Jessy Cohen neighborhood as perceived by its residents; in other words, it is not congruent with the neighborhood’s official boundaries. This part presents various materials pertaining to specific areas in the neighborhood, and is a temporary exhibition that is due to close next month.
We intend to continue developing the museum on the basis of this first stage, and expand the circle of people involved in it – artists and neighborhood residents alike.
You are invited to submit proposals for a new art project as part of the Complete Jessy Cohen Museum’s activities in 2017.
In the coming year the museum will engage with one of the central institutions in the Jessy Cohen neighborhood – Weizmann Elementary School – which operated in the neighborhood for almost sixty years until it was closed down in 2012. Today the building serves as the Israeli Center for Digital Art, which also houses the Complete Jessy Cohen Museum. Weizmann Elementary School was a state school established in the late 1950s, and in certain respects reflects the neighborhood’s history, and local, urban, and national processes from its establishment to its closure.
You are invited to submit proposals for a project in collaboration with the residents that will entail spending time at the site and conducting a dialogue with the museum staff, which will conclude with a presentation (an exhibition or other).
Possible, but not binding, directions:
The specific school’s history
The school as a site, as an environment
Social and educational aspects
The role of a school in a community and neighborhood
Questions concerning the education system, its role, and its place in contemporary society
If you are interested in submitting a proposal: a gathering will be held at the Complete Jessy Cohen Museum that will include a tour of the museum and neighborhood, and introduction to the museum staff. The gathering will be held on March 2, 2017 at the Center for Digital Art, and you are welcome to come any time between 14:00 and 18:00.
We will place at your disposal:
- A work space
- All the research materials collected so far by the Complete Jessy Cohen Museum, including key figures in the neighborhood past and present
- Curatorial and production support from the staff at the Center for Digital Art
- Consulting from Effi & Amir – the initiators and founders of the Complete Jessy Cohen Museum
- A production budget
- Artist fees
The proposals will undergo initial screening by the museum staff, including the Center for Digital Art curatorial staff, artists Effi & Amir, and the neighborhood residents’ curatorial group. Suitable candidates will be invited to meet with the museum staff, after which one of the proposed projects will be chosen.
Final date for submitting proposals: March 30, 2017.
The proposals should be submitted in a format no larger than A4 pages, together with relevant résumés, to: info@digitalartlab.org.il
Telephone for inquiries: 03-5568792
The CDA's archives are operating with the support of the Ostrovsky Family Fund and Artis
