Going and arriving
Israeli artists in Germany examine the subject of migration at the ID Festival.
The only Israeli cultural festival in Berlin is on the move, thematically at least: “Migration told through German-Israeli Art” is the main topic of the ID Festival, which is being held at Radialsystem V, the former pumping station on the bank of the Spree, from 21 October. For three days some 70 artists will focus in very different ways – pictorially and musically, with performances and in panel discussions – on a topic that is at the centre of both political and societal attention and is also being reflected in the arts.
The programme begins with the opening exhibition “Mother, I have reached the land of my dreams”. Under this heading, 15 Israeli artists who live in Berlin will examine the themes of going and arriving in various ways. Some focus on the feeling of alienness, while others deal with prejudices against others or with the fate of refugees who endeavour to reach Europe across the Mediterranean. The exhibition is curated by Israeli artist Alona Harpaz, who has been offering artists with Israeli roots a room at the Berlin gallery CIRCLE1 for several years now.
The ID Festival was founded by a pianist: Ohad Ben-Ari studied in Frankfurt am Main and initially had the idea of founding an orchestra made up solely of Israeli musicians who were active in Germany. The venture was a success, so much so in fact that the first ID Festival was held in 2015 with and by artists with Israeli migrant backgrounds. The focus in 2015 – which also explains the festival’s name – was on the themes of identity and origin. “ID” can thus not only be read as an abbreviation for identification, but also simply as the German initials for Israel and Germany.
ID Festival Team: Elad Lapidot, Ohad Ben-Ari, Alona Harpaz,
© Christoph Neumann
Having outgrown this self-referential view, in 2016 an additional panorama is being opened that also involves those who move outside their own “family”. Israeli artists are predestined “in a unique way” to express themselves on the subject of migration, explains Ben-Ari: “The history of the Jewish people is full of migration stories, of movement from place to place. We are ourselves migrants, children of migrants.” In addition, however, the participants of the festival also include artists who came to Germany as refugees from Arab countries. The event organiser also hopes to advance Jewish-Arab dialogue through their participation. Ben-Ari says Germany in 2016 is “neutral ground” for forms of dialogue that “would not be possible or at least very difficult where we come from”. The festival receives financial support from the Schwarzkopf Foundation Young Europe; its patron is Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media Monika Grütters.
ID Festival in Berlin from 21 to 23 October 2016
© www.deutschland.de
