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Smadar Sheffi

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Smadar Sheffi (Hebrew: סמדר שפי) is an art critic, researcher of art and culture, and a curator of contemporary art.[1] She is the founder of the Contemporary Art Center, Ramle – CACR (2019 - 2024) and was the Chief Curator.[2] Over past years, she has gained vast experience in curating exhibitions in historical structures, among them the Bialik House Museum in Tel Aviv,[3] Jerusalem Artists House, Contemporary Art Center, Ramla - CACR, and the Pool of Arches, Ramla.[4] Dr. Sheffi’s bilingual blog of art criticism and notes on contemporary culture, The Window, has been active since 2012.[5]

Biography

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Smadar Sheffi holds a Ph.D. in Art History from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and is currently a lecturer at the COLLMAN - College of Management Academic Studies, Rishon Lezion. She is a past lecturer at the Tel Aviv University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the Institute for Israeli Art.[6] Her research interests, among others, are representations of the Holocaust in contemporary art,[7] Israeli art and Modernism. Sheffi’s doctoral dissertation, "From Vienna to Jerusalem: Forgotten portraits by Grete Wolf Krakauer", was written under the direction of Prof. Gannit Ankori.

Continuing her research on contemporary Israeli art, Dr. Sheffi delivered lectures at the Summer University for Jewish Studies, Hohenems, Austria (“Food in Modern Israeli Art”); The Jewish Museum, Munich (“Reflection on the ‘other’: The image of the Arab in Israeli Art”); and at the American University, Washington DC at the conference Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Israel (“Portraying states of uprootedness in Israeli art”).

Since 2013 Sheffi is the contemporary art curator of the Bialik Museum in Tel Aviv. The curatorial program is focused on creating cultural linkage between the heritage of Israel's national poet H. N. Bialik (who was also a publisher, publicist and editor) and contemporary Israeli art and theory.[8] In 2023, the book "Art. Bialik." was published by the Municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo on the occasion of the 150th centennial events marking the birth of the national poet. The book is a compilation of the exhibitions 2013 - 2023 and an anthology of the writings by Bialik that inspired them.[9]

Dr. Sheffi was the chief curator of the CACR – Contemporary Art Center Ramla, an art initiative she launched in 2019. The curatorial program led by Dr. Sheffi embraces difference and multiple viewpoints as core values, addressing issues of diversity and civil society as reflected in contemporary Israeli art.[10][11]

Dr. Sheffi curated two exhibitions in 2023 - 2024 at the Laurie M. Tisch Gallery at the JCC, Manhattan: "Tales Textiles" and "Cities and Valleys".[12][13]

Dr. Sheffi is the art critic for Galei Zahal Radio since 2007, and for 20 years was the art critic for leading Haaretz.[14] She is the author of numerous catalog articles and gallery texts, an art consultant, and leader of in-depth Israeli and international art tours.

Curated exhibitions

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Publications

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  • 2013 - Catalog for solo exhibition by Beverly Barkat
  • 2015 - Catalog for solo exhibition by Eric Eliahou Bokobza – United Colors of Judaica
  • 2015 - Booklet for solo exhibition by Lisa Gross Turmoil
  • 2016 - Exhibition Catalog, Intricate Affinities: Recollections of Western Tradition in Local Contemporary Art, Petach Tikva Museum of Art
  • 2018 - Catalog of the exhibition, Grete Wolf Krakauer: From Vienna to Jerusalem
  • 2023 - The book "Art. Bialik.", Bialik Museum, Tel Aviv

Interviews and podcasts

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References

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  1. ^ "Dr. Smadar Sheffi". Institute for Israeli Art (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  2. ^ "The Contemporary Art Center in Ramle has closed". Haaretz (in Hebrew). 2024. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
  3. ^ "Full list of exhibitions in the Bialik Museum website" (in Hebrew).
  4. ^ "From New York to Ramle – modern art in an ancient setting puts Israeli city on the map". JewishInsider. 2023. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  5. ^ "The Window Art Blog".
  6. ^ "Dr. Smadar Sheffi". Institute for Israeli Art. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  7. ^ Nadell, Pamela S. "Examining Anti-Semitism on College Campuses". American Jewish History. 105: 189–194. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  8. ^ "Between Silence and Horror: Jana Rotner's Exhibition Connects Bialik with John Cage". Haaretz (in Hebrew). 2021. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
  9. ^ Art. Bialik. Bialik Museum, Tel Aviv. 2023. ISBN 978-965-598-375-3.
  10. ^ "Below an Israeli City, a Musical Harmony Belies the Tensions Above Ground". The New York Times. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
  11. ^ "Exhibit in Israeli Jewish-Arab city shows inclusive take on life". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
  12. ^ "'Past Exhibits' on the Manhatten JCC website".
  13. ^ "Haunting, poignant, unsettling, riveting — images from the precarious lives of artists in a diverse Israeli city". Forward. 2023. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  14. ^ "Smadar Sheffi's articles in Haaretz".
  15. ^ "Clip from Bank Leumi's youtube site".
  16. ^ "Exhibition catalog on Beverly Barkat's website" (PDF).
  17. ^ "Exhibition on the Rothschild Fine Art website".
  18. ^ "Website of Beit Hatfutsoth-Museum of the Jewish People".
  19. ^ "Exhibition on the Rothschild Fine Art website".
  20. ^ "Work at Chelouche Gellery".
  21. ^ "Exhibition on the Museum website".
  22. ^ "Exhibition on the Jerusalem Artist's House website".
  23. ^ "Exhibition on the Jerusalem Biennale website".
  24. ^ "Exhibition on the art and culture magazine of "Kan 11"".
  25. ^ "Almacen Gallery website".
  26. ^ "'Past Exhibits' on the Manhatten JCC website".
  27. ^ "'Past Exhibits' on the Manhatten JCC website".
  28. ^ "Bialik Museum website".
  29. ^ "Bialik Museum website".
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