Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem
Each year, at the end of the academic year, Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design opens its doors to the public and invites visitors to view the work of its finest young artists, who display outstanding projects in their fields, developed from their own personal outlook, research, and innovation. The presenters are the next generation to lead and shape the face of the field of art and design in Israel.
The graduate exhibition includes paintings, sculptures, photography, design, jewelry, accessories and fashion, installations, performances, videos and animation, ceramics, and glass.
Studies at Bezalel Academy are undertaken through materials research, advanced technologies, cultural and enrichment studies headed by the Department of History and Theory, and broad exposure to what is being done around the world, via guest workshops and international meetings. The results are the groundbreaking accomplishments and international achievements of the students and research groups. This year, many students participated in and even won competitions and festivals around the world.
The thousands of exhibits of the graduates of 2017 reflect a complex and multi-layered engagement of the personal and the social, the global and the local. The exhibition consists of a wide range of individual projects that deal with issues of identity, relationships, and family, as well as those that concern issues relating to culture and the complexity of local and universal existence. The students’ creativity reflects renewal and innovation, both conceptually and in terms of technologies and materials – and alongside these, one can discern an interaction with tradition, heritage, roots, and the ancient crafts.
This year, approximately four hundred young graduates, artists, designers, and architects are completing their undergraduate degrees at Bezalel.
Bezalel was established in 1906 by the artist Boris Schatz as a “study hall for the arts,” and since then it has remained the leading academy of art and design in Israel, and is recognized as one of the foremost schools of art in the world. Over one hundred years of Israeli art reflect an accumulation of knowledge and a continuous trend of innovation and quality. The power of Bezalel as a groundbreaker is in its immediate reactions to cultural changes, and its pride in the generations of its graduates, the vanguard of Israeli artists, designers, and architects, both in Israel and abroad. Alongside its practical curriculum, Bezalel gives its students an intellectual foundation in the areas of history, literature, philosophy, sociology, and cultural studies, as well as the fundamentals of scientific and technological thought. The curriculum gives students a wide range of tools for free expression and personal creativity, which pave their unique and independent way in the magical, yet demanding, fields of art, design, and architecture in the twenty-first century.
Bezalel Campus, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem
Buses: From the Central Bus Station: 68, and from the city center: 19, 19A, 17, 34
Department of Architecture, 1 Bezalel Street (Corner of Shmuel HaNagid Street), Jerusalem
Opening hours: Sunday to Thursday 10:00 – 21:00
Friday: 10:00 – 15:00
For further information and questions: pr@bezalel.ac.il